John Stones was ruled out of England’s squad for their final two games of the Euro 2016 qualifying group stages and Wayne Rooney was among the players troubled by injury when Roy Hodgson’s squad held their first training session at St George’s Park.
Rooney missed the training session because of an unspecified injury he picked up during Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday while Stones has been forced to withdraw because of the knee problem that meant he was not involved in the Merseyside derby.
Hodgson has responded by turning to Tottenham, bringing in Kyle Walker as defensive cover and also adding another Tottenham Hotspur player, Andros Townsend, to his squad to make sure England do not end up short of attacking players. Hodgson’s thinking is that Theo Walcott could play as a striker, having excelled in that role for Arsenal at the weekend, so Townsend has been brought in to give the manager more options in the wide positions.
England, already confirmed as Group E winners with an immaculate record of eight straight wins, play Estonia at Wembley on Friday, followed by a game in Lithuania on Monday, but Danny Ings was also unable to train on his first day with the senior squad because of a minor injury issue. Jonjo Shelvey was not involved for the same reason and the Football Association says the relevant players will be monitored by medical staff before Wednesday’s training session.