In this Jan 20, 2020 photo, Chinese men's national football team head coach Li Tie (center) attends a training session at Guangdong Foshan training ground in Foshan, Guangdong province. (MENG DINGBO / XINHUA)

SHANGHAI - China's national football team have started a training camp ahead of their upcoming 2021 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers in Shanghai on Sunday.

According to head coach Li Tie, this camp will mainly focus on tactics instead of physical training. However, injuries to key players including Zhang Linfan, Fei Nanduo and Jiang Guangtai have become a major problem facing the team, making it more difficult for Li to arrange his line-up.

According to head coach Li Tie, this camp will mainly focus on tactics instead of physical training. However, injuries to key players including Zhang Linfan, Fei Nanduo and Jiang Guangtai have become a major problem facing the team, making it more difficult for Li to arrange his line-up

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"I think injury is a part of football. We do not know which player can recover, so all the players should be prepared to be put on the pitch at any time," Li said.

The coach praised the players for their positive attitudes. "I can feel that all our players really cherish the opportunity to become a national team member and have a strong desire to join in the training camp. They really work very hard," he said.

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Li revealed that the squad has been keeping in touch with Wu Lei, after the Espanyol forward was left out of the team owing to the current impracticalities concerning international travel.

"Though he is far away in Spain, we want him to know that he is still a very important member of our team. We hope he can join us according to the original schedule."

Shanghai Shenhua striker Cao Yunding was called up to the squad and arrived at the training venue on Monday morning.