Reece James hasn’t recovered sufficiently from the knee injury he picked up against AC Milan last month playing for Chelsea; Gareth Southgate spoke with the right-back on Tuesday; Southgate did not want to risk taking him in his 26-man squad which he will announce on Thursday at 2pm
Reece James will miss the World Cup in Qatar because of injury.
After discussions with Gareth Southgate on Tuesday, it was decided the Chelsea full-back has not recovered sufficiently from the knee injury he picked up against AC Milan last month.
James flew to Dubai to undergo an intensive rehabilitation programme in an attempt to be fit for Qatar, and was even doing some tentative running at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground in recent days.
However, with injury concerns to another key England right-back – Kyle Walker – and to midfielder Kalvin Phillips, Southgate has taken the tough decision to tell James that he cannot risk including him in his 26-man squad that will be announced on Thursday.James revealed he was willing to take the “risk” of making the World Cup squad which he never gave up hope of reaching as he “worked harder than” ever to return to fitness.
“Devastated,” James wrote on Twitter. “The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround 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 I could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take.
“There was hope, certainly from the player and his family and everyone around Chelsea that he could play some part in the World Cup, but he’s lost his race.
“I think the key issue here is the number of other injuries that Gareth Southgate is dealing with in this England squad.
“I said in that piece that Reece James was the furthest behind all of the England players in his recovery despite the fact that he’d gone to Dubai to speed up that recovery and despite the fact that he’d started running again at Cobham after that knee injury.
“But the FA medics as I understand it were told that it would be several weeks before Reece James would be fit to play. He’d then have to build up his match fitness and get back into the squad.
“Southgate decided that while he could still play a part in the latter stages of the tournament, he just couldn’t risk it, he couldn’t afford to take him.
“So he called Reece James yesterday to deliver the bad news and Reece James and his family are understandably devastated by it because he was England’s first-choice right-back before this injury he suffered in the Champions League against AC Milan last month.”
“As much as Reece is going to be absolutely devastated to not make it for such a huge event in anybody’s career, I actually think it’s the right thing for Gareth and the right thing for Reece.
“I messaged Reece instantly when it first happened and said, ‘Make sure you don’t come back too early just to make yourself fit for the World Cup, you’ve got another 15 years ahead of you’.
“He’ll have opportunities to play in other tournaments. When someone is so young and they’ve got the rest of their career ahead of them, you’ve got to make sure they don’t cause themselves further damage for a tournament that comes too quickly.
“I’m gutted for him because I think he starts every game for England if he was fit. It looks like the right thing for him from a fitness aspect and for Chelsea and England long-term.”