Reece James has broken his silence on his omission from the England squad ahead of the World Cup later this month. The 22-year-old defender was a huge doubt for the international tournament after suffering a knee injury in Chelsea's 2-0 win over AC Milan last month.
Taking to Twitter, James revealed his despair at missing out on representing the Three Lions in Qatar while also providing an update on his absence. He wrote: "Devastated. The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turn around to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible.
"I've worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed | could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take. Good luck to the boys. I'll be back soon. Stay safe & sending love."
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The Mirror say that Southgate decided to leave James out of the 26-man squad amid fears of aggravating the right-back's injury. The Cobham graduate was set to be out of action for eight weeks but, after being flown out to Dubai to step up his rehabilitation, he began to recover ahead of schedule.
It's said that Chelsea had been sending the FA reports to keep them updated on James' fitness and knee injury. And, according to The Sun, he's been told he could be fit in three weeks.
In theory, that would see the defender become available for latter stages of the World Cup. But, to return with little to no match fitness or preparation made an England call-up very unlikely.
The Three Lions are set to face Iran on November 21, the United States on November 25 and Wales on November 29. James started in each of England's previous four UEFA Nations League clashes, featuring in both a back-five and back-four, so he will certainly be sorely missed.
With James out, Southgate still has a wealth of options to choose from. Whether it be Newcastle United's Kieran Tripper, Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool, Kyle Walker of Manchester City or even Ben White of Arsenal, England are still well equipped.
The Chelsea star will now set his sights on working back up to full fitness for when the Premier League recommences in December. In the first three games back after the World Cup, the Blues face Bournemouth on December 27, Nottingham Forest on January 1 and City on January 5.
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