Gary Cahill misses England training with ankle injury
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Version 0 of 1. Gary Cahill sat out England training with an ankle complaint, although the injury is not expected to rule him out of the European Championship qualifier in Switzerland on Monday. The 28-year-old started this week’s unconvincing international friendly 1-0 win against Norway, playing 84 minutes before being replaced by Phil Jagielka. Cahill was pictured with ice on his ankle after being substituted at a half-full Wembley but the coach Roy Hodgson downplayed fears over his fitness. The Chelsea defender did not train on Friday at St George’s Park as a precaution, although he is expected to return to training this weekend before playing in the match against Switzerland. Cahill’s absence meant only 19 of the initial 22-man squad were in action, with the West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster and uncapped Newcastle midfielder Jack Colback already withdrawing through injury. As a result, three members of the England Under-20s squad were drafted in to help with the training session. The Southampton midfielder Harrison Reed, Barnsley’s Paul Digby and Exeter goalkeeper Christy Pym all started the session with Hodgson’s side ahead of the Under-20s’ match against Romania in Telford later in the day. West Brom remain hopeful that Foster will recover from his thumb injury in time to face Everton a week on Saturday. “He’s had a little bit of a problem with his thumb during pre-season but nothing we haven’t been able to manage,” their manager Alan Irvine told wba.co.uk. “He just got it jarred. He went to catch the ball, secured it with his left hand but it then ricocheted off and hit down on the top of his thumb. That’s exactly the movement he wouldn’t have wanted. We are hoping that when he’s assessed again on Monday he will be fine – we don’t believe it’s a major injury or a big problem.” |