England can stand the heat says Hodgson

England manager Roy Hodgson brushed off fears sweltering heat may adversely affect his team in their Euro 2012 opener with France after touching down in Ukraine on Sunday. After basing themselves in the relatively cool southern Polish city of Krakow, England arrived in Donetsk after a two-hour flight to be greeted by baking temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures are forecast to nudge towards 32 degrees Celsius for Monday's early evening kick-off against France, but Hodgson downplayed concerns his team might struggle to cope with the conditions. "It does get hot in England from time to time and the heat is a factor for all the teams that will play here in the Ukraine and in the earlier game it plays a slightly bigger role," Hodgson told a press conference. "But the bottom line when you play under any conditions is that it is the same for both teams and it's very important that we don't put too much emphasis on them. Our emphasis has purely got to be on how we play. England captain Steven Gerrard also played down concerns over the weather. "Yeah, it's hot but it's hot for both teams. We won't use the heat and the conditions as an...