Evian, France: Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to training on Wednesday boosting his chances of getting a starting place for his country's Euro 2016 semi-final against France.

The 31-year-old Manchester United midfielder hurt knee ligaments during Germany's penalty shootout win over Italy on Saturday and missed training on Tuesday.

Defender Benedikt Howedes also returned to full training in another boost for coach Joachim Loew.

Germany will be without defender Mats Hummels who is suspended while midfielder Sami Khedira is injured and attacker Mario Gomez will miss the rest of the tournament with an injury.

Loew has said he will take no risks with Schweinsteiger however and that the influential German player will have to be "100 percent" to get a starting place in Thursday's game in Marseille.