Fabio Capello has been assured by the Premier League that a 'Grand Slam Sunday' shoot-out would never be scheduled before a big England game.The England manager risks his squad for Wednesday's friendly against France in Paris being decimated by injuries to key players when Manchester United play Liverpool and Chelsea play Arsenal on Sunday.

Capello voiced his concerns at a meeting with Premier League bosses and was given the assurance, although it does not help him against France when many of his squad will not be able to train on Monday, ostensibly leaving him with just one session on Tuesday to prepare for the match.

"This is a friendly. Having said that I'm not ecstatic, not happy about it. Some of the players I will not be able to train as I would like to," he said.

After almost three months in England, Capello is also aware the intensity of the Premier League means he will often be dealing with exhausted players when they turn up for internationals.

He conceded it would affect his strategy and compromise the high-tempo game England players are accustomed to playing.

"It is a problem, especially for the teams which don't have a very big squad because they cannot rotate players and give them time to recover," he added.

"In England players play a high number of games and all of them at a very high intensity.

"At the end of the season players cannot be fresh. Club managers are there to win so they have to keep the intensity high and I get the players in the condition they are given to me by the clubs.

"It is important players realise they can't always run at the same speed and intensity. We have to be intelligent enough to know when we run and when we don't run."

The Italian also put down England's underachievement internationally at a time English clubs are doing so well in Europe to the invasion of foreign stars.

He said: "We have two teams in the last eight in the Champions League who have [many] English players, Chelsea and Manchester United.

"We only have one Arsenal player and two Liverpool players. We have some important players in English teams who play very well but they are supported by foreign nationals who help them perform very well.

"It is a problem being debated in Italy as well."

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