A month ago England had an abundance of top right-backs, with boss Gareth Southgate spoilt for choice.
But now he may well be having to think of alternate options for next month’s World Cup following a spate of injuries.
Chelsea’s Reece James was the latest right-back to suffer a problem, going off midway through the second half of his side’s 2-0 Champions League win at AC Milan with a leg injury.
It is the latest blow for Southgate in a position where England had looked blessed with options. 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.
Southgate expects to name his final squad just before the last round of Premier League matches on November 13-14, with England beginning their World Cup campaign against Iran on November 21.
Last weekend he saw Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player previously called the “best right-back in the world” by Reds manager Jurgen Klopp and capped 17 times by England, pick up an ankle injury against Arsenal.
After the match, Klopp said Alexander-Arnold’s injury “didn’t look good”, but had better news at his news conference on Tuesday.
“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.”
Southgate will now face an anxious wait for news on 14-cap James, a player who started England’s last game — the 3-3 Nations League draw with Germany at Wembley at the end of September.
Chelsea manager Graham Potter said he would not know until later this week how bad the injury was.
“Reece, we’re hoping he is OK but it is too early to say until 24-48 hours after,” said Potter.
Ex-England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, speaking on BT Sport, was also worried about the extent of James’ injury and added: “I really hope for his sake and the country’s sake he is fine.
“The fact we all winced when we saw it shows how important he is to England.”
That leaves Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier, who has played 37 times for the Three Lions, as England’s only established fit right-back, although he has only featured in two of the eight international matches played in 2022.
However, he is a player liked by Southgate, who said Trippier was ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order as his “all-round game is ahead” of the Liverpool man.
