Chelsea defender Reece James has been forced to withdraw from the England squad through injury.

Having missed the World Cup due to a knee injury, James would have welcomed the opportunity to return to the Three Lions camp for the Euro 2024 qualifiers with Italy and Ukraine.

While the 23-year-old missed out on a start versus the European champions in Naples on Thursday evening, he had an important part to play during the closing stages.

After Luke Shaw was sent off for two yellow cards, James was required to form a defensive rearguard, playing the final five minutes plus added-on time as England held on for a 2-1 victory.

With Kyle Walker having played the full 90 minutes, Gareth Southgate would have been giving consideration to starting James in the showdown with Ukraine.

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However, James will not feature in the squad for the game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday having returned to Chelsea for treatment on a fitness issue.

According to the Football Association, James is recovering from "an ongoing issue", seemingly in relation to a previous hamstring injury.

Since returning to action in February, the right-back has made six starts for Chelsea, completing the 90 minutes on five occasions.

That said, head coach Graham Potter has alluded to needing to managing the game time of James, a factor which may have led to his place on the substitutes' bench earlier this week.

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Despite his frequent layoffs, James has still been able to make 17 starts and one substitute outing for Chelsea in all competitions during 2022-23.

Nevertheless, he now emerges as a doubt for Chelsea ahead of their important Premier League encounter against Aston Villa on April 1.

With fixtures against Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Real Madrid to follow in quick succession, it appears unlikely that Potter will take any risks on one of his key men.

Either Cesar Azpilicueta or Ruben Loftus-Cheek would be expected to deputise for James should he require longer on the sidelines.

Written by
Darren Plant