• “The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup would be tight,” James said on Twitter. “But I always felt it was possible.
• Southgate’s situation has not been helped by an injury to fellow England right-back Kyle Walker.
Image: FILE
Chelsea defender Reece James says he is “devastated” to not be included in England’s World Cup squad.
The 22-year-old sustained the injury against AC Milan on 11 October but remained optimistic of recovering in time for the competition.
He began jogging this week after Chelsea had initially said he was expected to be out for eight weeks.
“The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup would be tight,” James said on Twitter. “But I always felt it was possible.
“I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed I could help the team.”
It is understood that England manager Gareth Southgate deemed it too big a risk to take James.
But James said: “I appreciate there was a risk on both sides, but it was one I was willing to take.
“Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe and sending love.”
England’s World Cup campaign gets underway against Iran on November 21.
Southgate’s situation has not been helped by an injury to fellow England right-back Kyle Walker.
The Manchester City defender had groin surgery at the start of October, but told the BBC last month he was “confident” of being fit for the World Cup. However, City boss Pep Guardiola said last week that the 32-year-old would not play for the club before the tournament starts.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid's Luka Modric has been included in Croatia's squad for what will be his fourth World Cup finals.
The 37-year-old midfielder, who was voted player of the tournament in Russia 2018, also represented Croatia at Germany 2006 and Brazil 2014.
Tottenham's Ivan Perisic and Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic are also in the 26-man squad.
Croatia, who finished runners-up in Russia, are in Group E in Qatar, along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco.
West Ham's Nikola Vlasic, who is currently on loan at Torino, is also in the squad, along with Scottish Premiership defenders Borna Barisic, of Rangers, and Celtic's Josip Juranovic.
Dejan Lovren, 33, the former Liverpool and Southampton centre-back - who now plays at Zenit St Petersburg - returns after playing in the 2014 and 2018 World Cup finals.
Croatia beat Southgate's England in the semi-finals in Russia before losing 4-2 to France in the final.
It was their best performance in five appearances at the World Cup finals. Their previous best was a third-placed finish at France 1998 - the first World Cup finals following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
They go into the 2022 finals in good form after recently winning their Nations League group ahead of world champions France and Denmark.
As well as retaining a number of players from their 2018 side, Croatia also have some rising stars, such as 20-year-old RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.
"The Nations League gave us the right to have high expectations, we played top matches and we are rightly optimistic," said Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic.
"I believe in them. Luck is that young players have older players alongside them to mature. I believe these players can do a lot."
Croatia's first match is against Morocco on November 23.