Chelsea's Ben Chilwell will miss the World Cup in Qatar after suffering a 'significant' hamstring injury.
Chilwell, 25, pulled up late on during Chelsea's 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League earlier this week with what looked like a serious injury.
It's more bad luck for the former Leicester City defender as he had just began to regain some form following his return from a Ruptured cruciate ligament that kept him out for 178 days last season.
Gareth Southgate is still sweating on the fitness of Reece James and Kyle Walker, but there's no doubt that Chilwell's experience and quality will be a big miss in Qatar.
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Confirmation of the injury broke today as Chelsea released the following statement:
"Following the injury sustained in our recent game against Dinamo Zagreb, Ben has undergone a scan on his hamstring.
"Results show that Ben has suffered a significant injury and the defender is unfortunately expected to miss the World Cup.
"Ben will now begin a rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical department."
Chilwell also released a statement on his social media accounts that read:
"Following my ACL injury I worked so hard to make sure I was ready for the World Cup.
It has always been a dream of mine. Unfortunately, this won’t be possible following my scan results.
"I’ll do all I can to get back playing for Chelsea ASAP. Thanks for the messages of support."
Chilwell joins a long list of players from around the world who will miss the WC following injuries sustained in the run-up to the November tournament.
There have been calls for the Premier League to cancel the last round of fixtures next week because of how the injuries have piled up, not just for England but other nations as well.
The likes of Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Timo Werner and Diogo Jota will all miss the tournament whilst there are still question marks over the likes of Heung-Min Son, Kalvin Phillips and Raphael Varane, as well as many others.
Chilwell has 17 caps and one goal for England and would have been battling it out with Manchester United's Luke Shaw for the starting role.
It's likely the United defender will be Southgate's first choice for the position, especially since he started and scored in the European Championships final last summer.
Sky Sports have since reported that Newcastle's Dan Burn, Brentford's Rico Henry and Crystal Palace's Tyrick Mitchell are all in the running to replace Chilwell in the squad.
Southgate will hope that James and Walker can recover in time, but Chilwell will no doubt be missed in Qatar.
Topics: Ben Chilwell, Chelsea, England, Football World Cup
George Priestman