What can we expect from our Wimbledon Champion Lollipop?

With 56% of the votes last night in Leeds it is clear that Britain is behind their 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the year.

After winning the US Open and an Olympic Gold Medal  in 2012 Andy Murray achieved his childhood dreams of becoming Wimbledon Champion this year and ended the epic 77-year wait for a GB champ.

But still we expect more. In the build up to the BBC SPOTY sports pundit Gary Lineker asked what’s next and if a Brit could retain a Wimbledon title.

And it is not just the pundits, Murray himself is pushing his body into shape to be fit for January’s Australian Open.  After a successful back surgery in September Murray has been working with his team in Miami to become invincible once more.

As he received the prestigious award from his training camp for the winter he later told BBC Sport: “The back is getting much better.”

“It’s hard to know how it will respond in a match but the signs have been good and the 10 to 15 days I put in before a match will be key as I’ll be testing my body in lots of practice matches.”

Our Wimbledon Champion has been out since the Davis Cup on the Umag clay so it will be a hard test to put himself through.

As usual team GB are running ahead of themselves thinks Lollipop. Premonitions of the Australian Open and Wimbledon 2014 are clouding reality.

Murray has been through life changing surgery. He is in Miami – pushing himself through recovery. His comeback could be in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi on 26 December.

Just as World number one Rafael Nadal returned to the sport in the 2013 VTR Open in Chile, Murray must do the same this winter.

Titles will not happen overnight. Murray’ defeat by Novak Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open meant he became only the second man in the Open era, after Stefan Edberg, to finish runner-up in the event three times.

The Scot has never won the upcoming Grand Slam and after his surgery it will be even harder.

Wimbledon 2014 could be a safer bet for Murray to come back on top. But supporters may have to endure what happened in Summer 2012 yet again.

In an era where ATP World Tour Champion Djokovic and King of Clay Nadal reign supreme Murray’s return could be harder than ever.

But then again he is our Wimbledon Champion and Sports Personality of the Year.  Anything is possible on court.

England should be so lucky

The teams have been picked. The pots have been emptied and after a few hours to mull the groups over maybe England are not in the worst position ever as Lollipop looks forward to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Yes the stats are clear England have never played Costa Rica so who knows what to expect there. Uruguay has never lost to the Three Lions and Italy were Roy Hodgson’s nemesis in Euro 2012 as they lost in a penalty shoot out once again.

But despite the draw and the scolding temperatures in Manaus where England will play their first match against Italy, the team know their opponents.

Each of the two former World Cup champions – Italy and Uruguay are made up of players who has or are currently playing for English Premier League sides.

The South American’s top scoring forward Luis Suarez scored four incredible goals for his side Liverpool on Wednesday but fellow team mates Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge know how he plays. England  sees how he plays week after week so he is not the biggest threat.

Their captain Diego Lugano and Goal Keeper Juan Castillo show an ageing defence. Although their attack is strong and ingenious, England could find scoring opportunities.

Despite Italy not being ranked as one of the eight seeded teams in the 2014 World Cup Roy Hodgson knows first hand how formidable they are.

After the draw the England Captain said: “With Uruguay and Italy, we almost have two number one seeds in our group,”

“We know how good Italy are because we lost to them in the quarter-finals at the Euros.”

Exactly my point Lollipop. England knows how good they are. The Three Lions have played them 23 times in the past. Yes England have never beaten Italy in a major tournament but with unpredictable players (enter Mario Balotelli) and a fiery pitch where temperatures reach 30C and humidity is about 80% any thing could happen as Hodgson so rightly said.

Costa Rica on the other hand did not even qualify for the last World Cup in South Africa however this time their side look prepared after making the finals with two games to spare. After a 1-0 loss at Honduras and 2-1 win over Mexico in October, Costa Rica finished second in the final CONCACAF qualifying round table behind the USA.

They may be ranked 31 in FIFA’s eyes but to Lollipop’s they could be tricky as England really will not know what to expect come Summer 2014.

But while Lollipop and I are grappling through England’s group spare a thought for the USA  who will face Portugal, Germany and the USA in Group G.

I guess not all of us can be so lucky as the bookies favourites and hosts Brazil, can we Lollipop.