Fabian Delph’s Euro 2016 appears to be over before it even started.
The Manchester City midfielder will not travel to France this summer after suffering a groin injury, Roy Hodgson confirmed on Thursday.
Delph will now be on standby for this summer’s tournament in France, which means he will only feature for the Three Lions if one of his international team-mates is forced to pull out through injury.
Naturally enough, this means that Delph will not take part in England’s friendly against Australia on Friday night, while Hodgson still needs to drop two players from the current squad ahead of the May 31 deadline for the tournament’s 23-man squad announcements.
🎥 Roy Hodgson reveals that Fabian Delph is injured and won't be in the #ThreeLions' final squad for #EURO2016. https://t.co/LfgmbmEqiz
— England (@England) May 26, 2016
But the Man City man is not the only one to miss out on Friday night, as England captain Wayne Rooney will not be in the starting line up.
Instead, his Manchester United team-mate Marcus Rashford will get his first England cap after impressing for his club since making his debut earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster will start between the sticks as he looks to put pressure on Joe Hart for the number one spot, although he will most likely just be hoping to cement himself as Hart’s understudy in the absence of the injured Jack Butland.
Daniel Sturridge continues to deal with a calf strain while his Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson appears to have shaken off his recent injury worries.
"I feel as though I'm ready to start," says fit-again @JHenderson, "but that's obviously down to the manager." #threelions
— England (@England) May 26, 2016
