World Cup Draw: England manager Roy Hodgson more concerned with location of group matches rather than opposition

England will find out who they will face in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Friday's draw

England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that he is more concerned about the location of the World Cup fixtures rather than the opposition (GETTY IMAGES)

Ahead of the World Cup draw on Friday afternoon, England manager Roy Hodgson has insisted that the location rather than the opposition is his biggest concern.

The Three Lions are unseeded, so they are guaranteed to face one of the teams in the top pot which includes Brazil, Spain, Germany or Argentina.

But with a country as vast as Brazil, Hodgson believes that where England’s matches are located could make life even harder next summer.

World Cup Draw 2014 LIVE - Who will England face in Brazil?

"I think [the draw] is a time when speculation is rife and people have a lot of fun looking at the potential possibilities," said Hodgson, who was speaking at a press conference organised by FA sponsors Mars.

"It is a nice game to play but I have got to say that I have not involved myself too much in that, we will get what we get really, the most important thing is to be there.

"Then you always hope that the draw is going to be kind to you in terms of where you are going to be asked to play. There are venues in Brazil that will be harder to play in than others.

"Maybe in terms of the teams you are drawn against some on paper look harder than others but I'm more concerned if anything by the venues than by the teams we draw.

"All discussion about teams and their strengths is based, not on speculation, but we don't know.

"We don't know how good Argentina are, we would all think 'blimey, Argentina are strong' but we don't know that.

"They might be no stronger than Chile. The good thing is that if we get Argentina, for example, we will be there and have a chance to play them and believe we can go out and beat them."

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