Raheem Sterling Set To Replace Injured Danny Welbeck

England forward Danny Welbeck has picked up an injury with only three days before their World Cup opener against Italy. The Manchester United forward trained on Tuesday with a strapping on his thigh and limped off before the end of the session at England’s training base in Urca.

England are due to leave for Manaus, where the clash with Cesare Prandelli’s men takes place, on Thursday.
If Welbeck misses that match it would mean a reshuffle of England’s likely front four, with Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley among those who could be considered by manager Roy Hodgson as a replacement.

Sterling was not involved in the 0-0 draw with Honduras in Miami on Saturday as he was serving a one-match ban for his sending-off against Ecuador.


Hodgson will almost certainly be without Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is more likely to be available for England’s second match against Uruguay on June 19.

Oxlade-Chamberlain continued to train away from his team-mates on Tuesday, mainly running at a faster pace as he continues his recovery from a medial knee ligament injury.

“It looks very unlikely that we’ll replace him,” Hodgson said of Oxlade-Chamberlain. “I don’t think that will be the case. I’m not a doctor I can’t give you real up to date or detailed information about where it is.

“He has got a strained medial ligament – that we do know. But he is certainly working very hard and I don’t think he could be further forward in terms of his progression than he is now.”