Michael Dawson was welcomed back into the England fold by Fabio Capello on Saturday morning, English website sportinglife.com reported.

Less than 24 hours after taking the "crazy" phone call summoning him to South Africa to replace injured skipper Rio Ferdinand, Dawson jogged onto the training ground at the Royal Bafokeng training complex to become part of England's World Cup mission.

Dawson immediately headed for Capello, who shook him warmly by the hand and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back, with John Terry also extending his congratulations.

Dawson then embarked on a couple of laps around the pitch as his team-mates went through their paces in front of him.

Still to win his first cap and axed from Capello's 30-man provisional squad last Tuesday, the odds against Dawson lining up alongside John Terry at the heart of England's defence for the Group C opener against the United States next Saturday are fairly high.

Two of the more plausible contenders, Matthew Upson and Ledley King, were absent from the main training area this morning.

Upson reported a temperature, although any virus is not thought to be serious, and there were no obvious signs last night.