Reece James won’t be a part of the Three Lions’ 26-man World Cup squad, The Athletic reports on Wednesday.As per them, James has been told the news by England manager Gareth Southgate, and it will be officially announced on Thursday afternoon.Southgate does not want to risk taking the 22-year-old as he is still recovering from a knee injury sustained against AC Milan last month.Pick me, pick me! Kalvin Philips claims he’s ready to play despite missing two months of actionAccording to reports, Chelsea defender has been optimistic he could recover in time to make the trip despite a scan showing he had sustained ligament damage. The 22-year-old, who had to wear a knee brace for four weeks as part of his rehabilitation, jogged for the first time at Chelsea’s training ground on Tuesday. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6798275##A specialist told him that he had a chance of playing again by the end of the month, with England’s last group game against Wales on November 29 a possible target.”But Southgate, who is a big admirer of James, has decided he cannot afford to take a chance on the defender and is leaving him behind. James, who has 15 caps, was left devastated by the news but respects the decision. He will now continue working with Chelsea to get over the problem”, explains The Athletic.Ben Chilwell misses the World Cup and a good portion of the rest of the seasonThe Blues’ gaffer Graham Potter said recently that he expected James would need four weeks of rehab. He is the second Chelsea player to miss out on playing for England at the tournament through injury. Ben Chilwell is also not going due to suffering a severe hamstring injury last week against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
