Gareth Southgate has already decided upon his 26-man squad for the World Cup.
England boss Southgate has spoken to a number of the Three Lions injured players in recent days. It's believed Chelsea defender Reece James, who suffered a knee injury last month, will not be included in the squad for the tournament in Qatar.
However, Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are both expected to be included after recovering from groin and shoulder surgeries respectively. Phillips, who enjoyed an outstanding Euro 2020, is set to get minutes in City's EFL Cup tie against Chelsea at the Etihad on Wednesday evening. Come through that unscathed, and he'll be included.
The big question for Southgate is whether either player has enough match fitness to play at a World Cup. Phillips has just 14 minutes of football under his belt this season, but Walker was a regular at City before suffering his injury in October's Manchester Derby.
Walker is not expected to be feature against Chelsea. He's also a major doubt for City's game against Brentford at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon.
As first reported by the Daily Mail, James still has some way to go in his recovery and is expected to be left out. The good news is he's out of a protective brace and has started running. However, he's unlikely to be fit until the latter stages of the World Cup.
Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell and Arsenal playmaker Emile Smith Rowe are both definitely out.
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Southgate has faced several selection dilemmas. The biggest has been over James Maddison's inclusion. The Leicester star has been one of the best players in the Premier League this year - only Harry Kane, among Englishmen, has more goal involvements in 2022 than Maddison - but hasn't played for England since picking up a single cap in 2019.
Harry Maguire is expected to be selected, although he's currently the fourth-choice centre-back at Manchester Untied. The Red Devils skipper is enduring a poor run of form and made a costly error in England's most recent game against Germany in September but remains a key member of Southgate's side.
Captain Harry Kane will lead England's attack, but there are questions over who will back up the Spurs star in attack. Ivan Toney and Callum Wilson are both in good form, but Tammy Abraham is enduring an untimely difficult period. Roma's usually prolific striker has scored just two Serie A goals this season.
Marcus Rashford will be hopeful of making the squad after being dropped by Southgate over the last year. He hasn't played for England since 2021 but has scored seven Premier League goals this season and is back to something like his best under new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.
