BBC Sport - 2014 World Cup: Playing in Manaus 'not ideal' - Roy Hodgson England boss Roy Hodgson says playing a World Cup group match in Manaus is "not ideal," but he accepts that games must be spread around Brazil. Hodgson's squad must travel 1,777 miles to the Amazonian city from their chosen base in Rio for their opening Group D match against Italy on 14 June. Temperatures in the region reach 30C, and humidity is about 80%. "From the coaches I spoke to, we all agree that Manaus is not an ideal place to play football," said Hodgson. Four games will be played in the city's specially constructed Arena da Amazonia stadium during the tournament. The southern cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte are predicted to have more comfortable temperatures (mid-20s) for much of the tournament. Hodgson, who will visit Manaus on a fact-finding trip in February, told BBC Sport: "It's in the middle of the Amazonian jungle and the temperatures and humidity are much, much greater than any other place in the country. I'm not even certain that Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia would have been jumping for joy if they were drawn there as it's a difficult place to play. I've never known Brazil, for example, to play any of their home matches in Manaus. Before the draw, Hodgson described Manaus as "the place to avoid" because of the climate. Following those comments, the mayor of Manaus, Arthur Virgilio, said England would not be welcome in the city, but Hodgson says that, on reflection, he is looking forward to the trip. Hodgson talks Hart's hopes and Suarez threat "I think most teams were rather hoping they were drawn in places where the climate is more favourable," he said. But on the other hand, I understand the Brazilians want to spread this World Cup around the country and Manaus is a very important town and city in Brazil. Having thought about it, and seen how the group has panned out, I'm really embracing the idea of going there. England will fly to Manaus on 12 June to train, and will stay on after the game on 14 June, returning to Rio the following morning. The match against Italy was brought forward by three hours to 23:00 BST (18:00 local time) after Fifa heard representations from a number of parties, including broadcasters ITV, BBC and RAI. "I'm not unhappy with [the decision]," said Hodgson. If I was a fan at home wanting to watch England play, I'd be very happy with it. I don't really believe that three hours is going to make such a vast difference [to conditions] - I don't know climatically; I'll know a lot more when I visit Manaus in February. 14 June: Italy in Manaus It will be a challenge for us to do all the acclimatisation and preparation so that when we kick off at 18:00, the players will be as ready as they can be. England will face another challenge in their second Group D match against Uruguay, when they are likely to come up against in-form Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. "At the moment there is no better footballer playing in the Premier League, and there won't be that many playing anywhere in the world," said Hodgson. It's unfortunate we'll have him to face, he'll certainly give our defenders some headaches, but it's up to us to try and nullify his talent and even more for us to give their defenders some headaches, because we've got a few attackers of our own who aren't bad. We're not short of firepower. Hodgson also backed goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has lost his starting place at Manchester City. "I can't say that it's not a situation that concerns me, but I'm still hopeful that Joe will win his place back in the team," said Hodgson. World Cup weather There's plenty of time between now and May. I just feel sorry for him that he's got to endure this situation, where his club manager prefers someone else. A number of Brazilian cities have seen protests at so much public money being spent on new stadiums rather than public services, but Hodgson does not expect the situation to affect his squad. "Fifa have got a problem there because the Brazilian government have got a problem on their hands," he said. But as footballers we can't really get too much involved - we are not political animals, we are footballers. He added: "It will be a great World Cup. Brazil is a fantastic football country. I'm a bit disappointed that these problems have arisen which the government and Fifa will have to deal with, but I'm still pretty confident that when June comes around it will be all about the football, the people, the colour, the passion.