Injuries hinder England's World Cup prep

England’s chances of success against the world champions suffered another huge blow with the news that Manchester City duo Delph and Sterling and Liverpool captain Henderson had pulled out.

With Spurs trio Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Kane already sidelined though injury, England manager Gareth Southgate is faced with a worryingly depleted squad for friendlies he’d hoped would help him fine-tune his team ahead of next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.

Of greatest concern will be his midfield. Of those fit and available for the upcoming games against Germany and Brazil, only Eric Dier can realistically expect a starting place when England play their first group game of next summer’s tournament.

Of his other options, three -  Jesse Lingard, Jake Livermore and Ruben Loftus-Cheek - have eleven senior international appearances combined. The other, Ashley Young, collected the last of his thirty caps over five years ago; his last kick of a ball a missed penalty as England lost to Italy at Euro 2012.

Visitors have a wealth of options

Germany meanwhile, have pretty much their entire squad available, with world-class talents such as Toni Kroos, Mesut Özil and Julian Draxler unlikely to find life too difficult when the teams meet in London.

Coach Joachim Löw claims he will use the England game, as well as next Tuesday's clash with France in Cologne, to help him make some "tough decisions" as he prepares his squad list for Russia. 

"If you want to be world champion, you need world-class players." Löw told news agency AFP. "We have to have an incredibly strong squad where every player is in top shape - every day and every minute."

Among those decisions will be the question of whether or not to grant the returning Mario Götze and Ilkay Gundogan a seat on the plane. The upcoming friendlies should also give Marvin Plattenhardt and Marcel Halstenberg the chance prove their credentials in place of the injured left back Jonas Hector.