Flintoff to continue playing

England captain Andrew Flintoff will play in the Boxing Day Test this Tuesday despite needing injections to quell throbbing pain in his ankle.

Flintoff has been taking the pain-killing injections for the past few days and has not trained with the rest of the team in the nets.

“The ankle feels good. Obviously we netted yesterday and I didn’t bowl, I will probably bowl tomorrow,” he said, “There’s no secret, I’ve had some discomfort in it over the past week.”

Flintoff told the media today that the injections were just a precautionary measure and he expects to be fit for the remaining two Test matches against Australia and the upcoming ODI series.

“Having an injection is just a precaution, I’m not envisaging any long-term problems or worried about these next two Test matches,” he said.

Flintoff re-injured his troublesome left ankle in May and subsequently missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka, as well as the entire series against Pakistan. He admitted that he would have to live with the pain for the rest of his career.

“My ankle is an area where I have got some discomfort, but if you speak to a lot of bowlers they will tell you they’ve got areas of their body which aren’t 100%,” he said.

“My area is my ankle and it’s something I’m going to have live with.”