Grande: Fabregas fit and ready

Spain assistant coach Toni Grande has explained the surprise inclusion of Cesc Fabregas in their starting XI for the Euro 2012 contest against Italy.

The Barcelona midfielder had been in doubt for the contest after suffering a thigh injury in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, but made the matchday squad and will start as a ‘false number nine’ against Italy, consigning Fernando Torres to the bench.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” Grande told Telecinco. “We had thought about this plan for a while, but then Fabregas had some fitness problems.

“However, we saw that he was fine, strong and confident, and we decided to go with it.

“This does not mean that we will choose this set-up for the other matches. We just thought that this team is the best for this match and that our players will receive the ball in areas of the field where they will be able to cause problems.

“What is want is our players to have the ball and create chances to score.”