Just over a month ago, England had an abundance of right-back options with it arguably being Gareth Southgate's strongest position in terms of depth. Now, the Three Lions boss may have to consider alternate options after Reece James became the latest player to suffer an injury blow.
The Chelsea star was forced off midway through the second half of the Blues' 2-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The extent of the issue is currently unknown, with Chelsea boss Graham Potter claiming it's too early to make a judgement on the issue: "Reece, we’re hoping he’ll be ok. [We’ll need] 24-48 hours because it’s too early to tell you anything more than that."
It comes after Liverpool's Trent-Alexander Arnold had to be brought off at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday after suffering an ankle injury in the Reds' 3-2 defeat to Arsenal. After the match, Jurgen Klopp said Alexander-Arnold's injury "didn't look good", but he did have better news to share at his news conference on Tuesday.
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"We were maybe a bit lucky with Trent," added Klopp. "It will be shorter than a month. Two weeks I heard. That's the information I got, though I'm not sure I am allowed to say that to be honest. We will see."
Meanwhile, Manchester City's Kyle Walker, with 70 England caps, suffered an injury in the 6-3 derby win against Manchester United at the start of October. He then underwent groin surgery a few days later and is now facing a race to be fit in time for Qatar.
The good thing is that England have fantastic depth in the position. Kieran Trippier, who often operates at left-back under Southgate, is also comfortable in his more natural right-back role. Plus, if all three of the above are short of fitness shortly before the competition, Southgate may have to consider recalling Arsenal's Ben White.
White has arguably been the best right-back in the Premier League this season as he's helped the Gunners win eight of their opening nine games. His omission from the squad for England's recent internationals against Italy and Germany came as a shock, but with his ability to operate both as a centre-back and as a full-back, he has to be in with a good shout of making Southgate's final squad of 26 players.
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