Kalvin Phillips says he is “hopeful” of being included in England’s World Cup squad after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Phillips underwent surgery on his shoulder in September and has not played since, although the Manchester City midfielder could return to the bench for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fixture against Chelsea.
However Phillips, who starred for England during their run to the Euro 2020 final, has completed 90 minutes just once this season - raising fears that he may not be fit enough to play a part for England in Qatar.
But the 26-year-old believes he is able to start for England if required, ahead of their opening game against Iran on 21 November.
"The shoulder's perfectly fine now," Phillips told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I have gone through a seven-week process of recovering as fast as I possibly can for the World Cup. Everything is going great.
"I've obviously not done it for quite a long time now but I've kept my fitness up and I'd like to think I could play 90 minutes. I'm very hopeful that I can be involved. We will have to wait and see."
With England’s squad set to be announced by Gareth Southgate on Thursday, Phillips would only have City’s final Premier League fixture against Brentford on Saturday to get further minutes if he is selected for the tournament, with England not playing any warm-up games before opening against Iran.
The former Leeds United midfielder added that he had spoken with Southgate throughout his recovery from surgery and the England manager had offered Phillips hope that he could still be selected despite the injury lay-off.
“I spoke to Gareth and told him about my situation,” Phillips added. “I said I understood if he didn't select me but he reassured me that as long as you're fit enough and you prove you're progressing well, there's always a chance you will be called up.
"I've done everything in my power to be as fit as possible and hopefully I will be involved."
