England midfielder Michael Carrick has pulled out of the squad for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley today with a calf problem.
The 34-year-old, who picked up the injury during the warm-up for Saturday’s 6-0 win over San Marino that booked a place at the finals, has returned to Manchester United for treatment.
“It’s a calf injury. We don’t believe it’s that serious. It’s quite strange because it came out of nowhere almost,” England manager Roy Hodgson told a news conference yesterday.
“It was at the start of the warm-up in San Marino that he felt something very, very small, very slight so just out of precaution we didn’t push that side of it – the same with the work after the training session.
“He had a preliminary type of scan, a very simple one if you like, here with our doctors and they decided there’s something there,” Hodgson added.
“It’s up to Manchester United now of course to... look at it much more closely. We don’t think it’s a long-term injury but, of course, more than enough to keep him out of the game which both he and I are very disappointed about.”
Carrick, who has 33 caps for England, has played in all four of Manchester United’s league games so far this season.
His injury could mean Swansea City midfielder Jonjo Shelvey getting another start after his impressive performance against San Marino although Hodgson said there were other options.
“We have Fabian Delph, who played well in the game, we have Ryan Mason, we have James Milner, who is capable of playing in other positions. We have options in that area without radically changing our system of play,” noted Hodgson.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that England will base themselves in the French town of Chantilly on the outskirts of Paris at Euro 2016.
Two days after England secured qualification to the European Championship, the FA confirmed the team will be based at the exclusive Auberge du Jeu de Paume hotel during the tournament.
Hodgson’s squad will train at the training ground for local amateur club US Chantilly. The training ground currently only has basic facilities so it will be renovated prior to the tournament.
Chantilly, which has a population of 11,000, is around 35 miles away from the centre of the French capital.
England will find out who they will face at the tournament on December 12 when the group stage draw is made in Paris.