James Milner today gave England a scare after the Villa midfielder missed training with a temperature.

It will spark fears a bug is going round the camp after West Ham’s Matthew Upson was laid low with a virus last week.

The 24-year-old Villa star was a second-half substitute in England’s 3-0 win over the Platinum Stars yesterday – their final warm-up game before Saturday’s World Cup opener against the USA.

Milner will be desperate to prove his fitness and shake off the bug, with the race for places wide open after unconvincing wins in the run-up to the tournament.

And the versatile midfielder Milner, has vowed England are in it to win it, after revealing he would not be content with reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

Fabio Capello’s team kick off their bid for glory in South Africa against USA on Saturday and are currently fourth favourites to win the competition.

The Three Lions have not reached the semis since 1990, when they agonisingly lost on penalties to Germany, but a favourable draw means they should avoid the big guns until the last four if results go to form.

But Milner, who is a top summer transfer target for Manchester City, is adamant only repeating the heroics of 1966 would be viewed as a success.

He said: “Would we take the semi-finals? No, I don’t think so. We’ve got a great squad.  There are some very good teams but we are one of them and it is up to us to show how good we are.

“We know we can beat anyone on our day, but you also need that luck and the decisions to go your way and that’s inevitable.

“In major tournaments there are turning points and maybe in years gone by we haven’t had that luck but hopefully this will be our year.”

PFA Young Player of the Year Milner admits it is a dream come true to be playing in the tournament.

He said: “The World Cup is the biggest competition you can play in, every young kid dreams of playing in the World Cup for their country.

“As a player, you want to play against the best players, test yourself, and play in the best tournaments, whether it’s the Champions League or World Cups.

“The whole world is watching.”