Monday 26 March 2018 16:14, UK
England manager Gareth Southgate insists it is not too late for Jack Wilshere to work his way into the World Cup squad, despite his latest injury setback.
Wilshere was forced to withdraw from the England squad for the friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy after aggravating a knee injury in training.
The 26-year-old Arsenal midfielder now faces a race against time to prove his fitness to Southgate before the final squad is named for the World Cup on June 4.
"I don't think it's too late for anybody," said Southgate. "It is obviously more difficult because there is a couple of guys who have been in squads and not had the chance to play for us.
"We will still be monitoring everybody between now and the end of the season because there is probably a squad of 31, 32 players that are in contention and none of us know what is going to happen in the next eight to 10 weeks."
Southgate added: "The most important thing is that if people are in the squad, then they are physically able to play at the level that allows them to show their ability.
"That is the thing that's most important from my perspective."
Southgate expects Wilshere to be available for Arsenal when they face Stoke at the Emirates, live on Super Sunday.
"I have no reason to believe that he won't be back for their next game," he said. "It is an ongoing issue which he has to manage and he wasn't going to be ready for tomorrow for us, but I'm pretty certain he will be back for Arsenal's next game."
England continued their preparations for the World Cup with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Friday and will now face 2006 champions Italy at Wembley on Tuesday.
The Azzurri are currently without a permanent manager after Gian Piero Ventura was sacked following a shock World Cup play-off defeat to Sweden.
U21 boss Luigi Di Biagio will take charge of the senior side against England and Southgate is expecting a stern test against a young Italian side.
"I'm not so sure they're in as much a state as people would say," said Southgate. "They are not at the World Cup because they were in Spain's group, really.
"They didn't quite get the play-off game right but they've got some good players and they're a proud footballing nation. They won't come to Wembley and roll over, that's for certain.
"There is some changes because that's the consequence of not qualifying, everybody knows that, but they've got good players, the coach that's in charge - I've coached against his before and he always organises his teams well.
"We'll be in for a really good test tomorrow, they'll press us with more intensity than we got pressed the other night, which is a really good challenge for us."
