Injured Wilshere given World Cup olive branch by Southgate

Jack Wilshere: Worth the gamble for England?

Jack Wilshere: Worth the gamble for England?

England manager Gareth Southgate insists Jack Wilshere’s absence against Italy is not necessarily the death knell for his hopes of heading to Russia.

Just 90 minutes of international football remains before the Three Lions boss names his World Cup squad, with one of the summer’s most high-profile absentees proving the final test on Tuesday evening at a sold-out Wembley.

England head into the match buoyed by Friday’s promising 1-0 win in Holland and Southgate plans to make changes against the Azzurri in a bid to firm up World Cup options that are already taking shape.

The Three Lions boss has given 44 different players caps since taking charge in September 2016 – including the now-retired Wayne Rooney – and only injury prevented Wilshere becoming the 45th in Amsterdam.

Tendinopathy in the Arsenal midfielder’s knee denied him a first appearance since the Euro 2016 exit to Iceland and dents rather than dashes his World Cup hopes.

“I don’t think it’s too late for anybody,” Southgate said.

“It’s obviously more difficult because there’s a couple of guys who have been in squads but haven’t had the chance to play for us.

“But we’ll still be monitoring everybody between now and the end of the season because there’s probably 31, 32 players that would be in contention and none of us know what will happen in the next eight to 10 weeks.”

Manchester City’s Fabian Delph and Watford midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah are in the same bracket given they missed this get-together through injury, having previously been called up by Southgate but not played.

“We have got to assess (the injury record) with every player,” Southgate said.

“There’s players that have niggles, there’s players that haven’t played as many minutes as others.

“The balance of the squad we have got to get right.

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“The most important thing is that if people are in the squad they’re physically able to play at the level that allows them to show their ability.”

Southgate expects Wilshere to recover from his ongoing complaint in time for Arsenal’s return to Premier League action against a Stoke side with Jack Butland in goal.

The 25-year-old will go into that game on the back of a 90-minute stint for England as the battle for the number one jersey heats up given Jordan Pickford’s assured display in Holland.

Butland’s selection means new boy Nick Pope will have to wait for his debut and underlines Joe Hart’s place in the pecking order – little surprise given the 75-cap goalkeeper’s struggles at West Ham.

“The circumstances were difficult,” Southgate said of Hart.

“The team had got more solid just after he went out of the side, really, with David (Moyes) coming in and working as he does. That is football, isn’t it?

“You have to take your opportunities. Joe’s professionalism has been brilliant with us, he’s always performed well for us. We had the best defensive record in Europe in qualifying.

“We’ve continued to defend well, he’s been a big part of that.

“And this week, even though he knew he wasn’t going to be playing in the games, he’s been a fantastic influence with the rest of the players – and the rest of the goalkeepers especially.”