Gerrard, Lampard miss England's first Burton session

BURTON (AFP) –

A flag flies at the entrance of St George’s Park complex in Burton-Upon-Trent. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard missed England‘s first training session at the Football Association’s new £100 million complex.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard missed England’s first training session at the Football Association’s new £100 million St George’s Park complex on Tuesday.

England captain Gerrard and fellow midfielder Lampard took part in the initial warm-up, but were then sent to do solo fitness routines as Roy Hodgson’s squad settled into their new base in Burton.

Chelsea‘s Lampard suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s win over Norwich and England coach Hodgson is keen not to aggravate the problem before Friday’s World Cup qualifier against San Marino at Wembley.

Gerrard is suspended for the San Marino clash, but he will be available for the following week’s trip to Poland.

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe also missed out on the training session as he did gym work while his team-mates went through their paces on the new pitches.

Chelsea defender Ryan Bertrand was absent with a sore throat and was confined to his room.

However, Bertrand’s Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole took part in the session just 24 hours after being charged by the FA over his offensive Twitter post about the English game’s governing body.

England have moved their pre-match preparations to the new national centre in Burton after several years spent as guests of Arsenal at the Gunners’ London Colney training facility.