England players watching TV wearing oxygen masks to prepare for World Cup altitude

London, May 21 (ANI): England players are reportedly watching television wearing oxygen masks in preparation for the high altitude that will greet them at World Cup venues in South Africa.

Capello has flown the players to Irdning, a tiny resort 2,400 feet above sea level high in the Austrian Alps to get his squad ready for South Africa.

According to The Mirror, Capello's altitude training includes the players wearing the masks for an hour every day, rotating them five minutes on and five minutes off.

The masks pump air with lower concentrations of oxygen to simulate the effects of altitude while the players can watch TV, read or run on treadmills.

It is part of Capello's painstaking attention to detail in his World Cup preparations and Milner says the training base - nearly 200 miles from the nearest Austrian city of Graz - is ideal to get the players focused.

Meanwhile, the players involved in Saturday's FA Cup final have now joined the squad in Austria.

Seven out of the ten stadiums in South Africa range from 2,165 feet to a mile above sea level while England's base in Rustenburg is 4,920 feet.

It will take some getting used to for the players but the training pitch - a 15 minute drive from their luxury mountain golf hotel - is in perfect condition. (ANI)