Thursday, 19th June, 2014
England boss Roy Hodgson has revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will not feature for his side in their important World Cup fixture against Uruguay tonight.
The Arsenal winger, who underwent an injury-ravaged 2013/14 campaign, strained a medial ligament in his right knee during England’s 2-2 friendly draw with Ecuador on June 4th.
Speculation was raised that Oxlade-Chamberlain may miss the showpiece event in Brazil, but Hodgson did not replace the 20-year-old in his World Cup squad.
And the England manager, who is pleased with the youngster’s recovery process, however, explained that he will not be risking Oxlade-Chamberlain against the Uruguayans, despite the importance of winning the Group D fixture.
"He is not in contention for tomorrow [Thursday], but he will take part in the next four training sessions," Hodgson told FIFA’s official site.
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"Today [Wednesday] was his last training session as, if you like, an individual.
"At the minute, we could have taken a chance with him tomorrow, but it would be much better if he uses the four days after this game and before the Costa Rica game to train with the team.
“Fortunately for us, his actual injury has responded really well to treatment but I don't think we will put him into the firing line tomorrow before he has had some training sessions with the team."
Both England and Uruguay will be gunning for the full points at the Arena Corinthians following their opening day losses at the hands of England and Costa Rica respectively.
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