England manager Gareth Southgate expects to lose more players to injury before the start of next month’s World Cup due to a packed schedule over the next few weeks.

Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips face a race against time to be fit for Qatar after undergoing surgery on groin and shoulder injuries respectively.

Southgate will have little time to prepare his squad for their first game against Iran on November 21, just eight days after the Premier League comes to a halt.

England have reached the Euro 2020 final and semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup under Southgate and he rejected the suggestion the team will be better served by a mid-season tournament than at the end of a draining campaign.

“I never bought the theory it’s better for us to be playing in the middle of the season than the end because we haven’t had a problem playing at the end,” said Southgate. “I always felt that was a bit of a myth.

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