Gary Cahill doubtful for England as Southgate confirms Chelsea's Danny Drinkwater rejected call-up

Gary Cahill has emerged as a possible doubt for England's friendly meeting with Germany at Wembley Stadium on Friday (10 November). Elsewhere, Gareth Southgate has revealed that Chelsea teammate Danny Drinkwater declined a call-up due to fitness concerns.

Cahill was cleared to report for international duty earlier this week after being assessed by club doctors in the aftermath of a 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United. He was among the favourites to captain his country following the withdrawals of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson.

However, the Football Association (FA) has now confirmed that the experienced centre-back did not take part in England's final training session at St George's Park on Thursday as Chelsea's Jay Dasilva and Fulham midfielder Tayo Edun – both members of Paul Simpson's Under-20 squad – were invited to join in with the seniors.

Chelsea will be eager to ensure that their captain is fit and available for selection on 18 November as Antonio Conte's side travel to face struggling West Bromwich Albion.

No fewer than six players have pulled out of England's initial squad for the matches against Germany and Brazil and the combined absences of Henderson, Spurs pair Dele Alli and Harry Winks and Manchester City's Fabian Delph have left the Three Lions desperately short of options in the centre of the pitch.

Southgate drafted in West Brom's Jake Livermore and uncapped Burnley midfielder Jack Cork following those withdrawals and also spoke to Drinkwater, who has featured as a substitute in each of Chelsea's last three games after a lingering calf injury forced the £35m ($45.9m) summer arrival to wait until October for his first appearance under Conte.

However, it appears that Drinkwater, who has only started once in 2017-18 after being similarly afflicted by injury during his final weeks at Leicester City, does not yet feel physically ready to add to his haul of three caps.

"I spoke to Danny earlier in the week but he feels he is not fit enough to play," Southgate told reporters at a pre-Germany press conference, per the BBC.

A dearth of quality midfield alternatives looks set to be to the benefit of another Chelsea midfielder. Reports from Sky Sports tsuggest hat Ruben Loftus-Cheek, currently on a season-long loan at Crystal Palace, is set to make his England bow against Germany.

The 21-year-old joined fellow Blues academy graduate Tammy Abraham and Liverpool defender Joe Gomez as one of three new additions to Southgate's original 25-man group, and looks likely to feature from the start on Friday evening.