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England reconnecting with fans as they prepare to return to Wembley

England fans show their support against Sweden at Samara Arena
Image: England fans will show their support for the national team against Spain on Saturday

Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol takes a look at the state of play as England prepare to return to Wembley…

England will play Spain in front of a capacity crowd of 90,000 at Wembley on Saturday in their first game since finishing fourth at the World Cup in Russia.

Any supporters wanting to buy last-minute tickets are being warned by the FA there is very limited availability.

The lack of empty seats will illustrate how England fans are reconnecting with their national team after Gareth Southgate's young squad exceeded expectations in Russia.

Gareth Southgate applauds fans after the group G match against Belgium
Image: Gareth Southgate inspired England to the semi-finals of the World Cup in the summer

After their early exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, there were almost 50,000 empty seats at Wembley for England's next home game - a 1-0 win against Norway.

Tickets are also selling fast for England's friendly against Switzerland in Leicester. The King Power Stadium has 32,000 seats and there are expected to be about 30,000 supporters in the ground on Tuesday.

England will play more games away from Wembley if the national stadium is sold to Fulham owner Shahid Khan in a proposed £600m deal.

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There was a sell-out crowd of 36,104 at Elland Road in June when England beat Costa Rica 2-0 in their final warm-up game before the World Cup.

England's run to the final four in Russia and the renewed interest in the national team has also been good news for the FA's commercial team as they search for sponsors to replace Vauxhall and Carlsberg.

Football clubs are finding it to difficult to attract sponsors, but the FA are hopeful that more deals can be agreed soon. The FA already have deals with eight companies, including Nike, Mars and Lucozade.

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