Chelsea star suffers short-term injury; pulls out of national team squad

Chelsea star Reece James has suffered a short-term injury in the win over Liverpool.

Reece James has pulled out of the England squad and has been replaced by Manchester City star Nick O’Reilly. The Chelsea captain suffered an injury in the win over Liverpool and is expected to be out for at least two weeks.

According to a report by Matt Law of The Telegraph, England medical staff made the final call to exclude James from the squad. The injury is not seen as a serious issue, but it would have kept the right-back out of the matches against Latvia and Wales.

Chelsea and England have been cautious with James, who has a history of hamstring issues and underwent surgery last season. England have confirmed that the right-back is ruled out and released a statement:

“Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly has received his first call-up to the England senior squad. The 20-year-old moves across from the U21s squad and comes into contention for the Three Lions’ forthcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia.

“The inclusion of O’Reilly, who has been capped from U15 through to U20 level, follows the withdrawal of Reece James. The Chelsea captain sustained an injury playing for his club over the weekend and has been ruled out of England’s October internationals following medical assessments.”

Reece James played a crucial role in Chelsea’s win over Liverpool, and Enzo Maresca would be hoping to have the Englishman back in the squad when the teams return to face Nottingham Forest later this month.

Benoit Badiashile and Josh Acheampong also came off injured in the win over Liverpool on Saturday, October 4.