However, Southgate is expected to prefer to take Phillips as back-up to Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham rather than call up Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has been under consideration. Conor Gallagher likes England’s set-up and could pose a challenge to James Ward-Prowse. AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori could receive bad news if White is included and with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi vying for a place. After receiving the news that he would not be included in England’s 26-man squad, James posted a message on Twitter that read: “Devastated. The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup was going to be tight, but I always felt it was possible. “I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance to go and I really believed I could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides, but it was something I was willing to take. Good luck to the boys. I will be back soon. Stay safe and sending love.” Mason Mount will be in the 26-man squad but has seen two of his closest teammates, Chilwell and James, miss out through injury. “Even if we didn’t have a World Cup coming up, it’s so hard to see them get injured because they’re very, very close friends of mine,” Mount said. “I’ve known both for a long time. When Reece got injured it didn’t look too bad at the time and obviously it worked out differently. It’s so hard to watch and especially with Chile coming back from a long-term injury.”
