England have confirmed Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and Tottenham left-back Danny Rose have both withdrawn from Gareth Southgate’s squad for upcoming internationals against Croatia and Spain.
The Three Lions kick-off their UEFA Nations League double-header in Croatia on Friday before travelling to Spain three days later, but Southgate has now lost four players from his original squad through injury.
Luke Shaw and James Tarkowski have already returned to Manchester United and Burnley, respectively, and the aforementioned duo have now been joined on the sidelines by Rose and McCarthy.
The withdrawal of Rose, in particular, is hugely problematic for Southgate, as it leaves the England manager with Leicester ace Ben Chilwell as his only available choice at left wing-back.
Chilwell earned his first senior England call-up during the last batch of internationals in September and was only drafted into the current squad as an injury replacement for Shaw, albeit it’s arguable he should have been in Southgate’s original plans.
The 21-year-old has made a great start to the season for Leicester and has already been tipped for a big money move further down the line, playing every minute of the Foxes opening eight league games.
Chilwell came off the bench for the final 11 minutes of England’s 1-0 win over Switzerland last month to earn his Three Lions debut but is now poised to start matches against Croatia and Spain.
