By John Curtis, PA Sport

Gary Neville insists England can make a massive impact on the World
Cup even if Wayne Rooney fails to recover from a broken metatarsal,
and warned: "You can't rely on one player."

Defender Neville, who missed the last World Cup through injury,
believes England "have to plan for Wayne not being available" when
the finals get underway in three weeks' time.

The 31-year-old is aware it will be the teams who cope best with
injuries and suspensions who will emerge as serious challengers.

Neville said of his Manchester United team-mate, who faces a scan on
Thursday: "I think we will still have a very good squad even without
Wayne.

"Wayne isn't here at present. The players on the pitch are the most
important ones, the ones who are training, the ones who are fit.

"For the last World Cup, I wasn't available. I know everyone hopes
Wayne will be available but we have to plan for him not to be
available. We're certainly going to play the warm-up games without
him.

"Every team during the tournament will suffer an injury or a
suspension. They will suffer through loss of form or something will
happen.

"You just have to cope with those things that will happen during the
tournament.

"It's the same for every country in the World Cup. I think during the
last World Cup, Brazil had Ronaldinho missing for the semi-final.

"You would say that's a great handicap but it still didn't stop them
and you have to be good enough to cope with those things during a
World Cup if you have aspirations of winning it."

Neville, who has returned with his England colleagues from a training
camp in Portugal, added: "You can't rely on one team-mate. I don't
think any of the players would say this is a one-man team.

"There is so much emphasis put by the media on one or two players.
It's never like that when you are in a team situation. There are 23
players and you never think, 'Oh, we all are depending on him.'

"You realise there are great players in your team. You know who they
are but you never think of them as the be-all and end-all in terms of
your chances of doing well and that's the same all the way through
football history.

"There will always be a player picked out of a team that's a star but
that's normally the media which does that. It's not the team itself.
It's not the squad itself."

Neville is relishing the prospect of what could be his last World
Cup, although he is trying not to get too hyped up too soon for what
could be eight weeks together as a squad if the ultimate prize is
secured on July 9.

He said: "If you're not excited about a World Cup, you shouldn't be a
footballer. It doesn't get any less exciting the older you get.

"There's always a huge build-up and this is part of it, coming away
with the team for three or four weeks.

"The thing I've probably learnt most from the previous tournaments is
not to get too eager too quickly, because hopefully we can be
together for eight weeks - and eight weeks is a long time.

"You can't be on a high all that time. You take your moments of rest
and your moments away from football. The week in Portugal was one of
those weeks.

"The World Cup is at the back of your mind but you're trying to think
about nice things like good food and sun.

"Certainly once you get to the tournament, once you get to Germany,
it's so intense, you haven't got time to think about anything else
than football.

"It really is mentally draining and physically draining for every
player who plays in that tournament."