James Maddison withdrawn from England squad in major Tottenham injury blow before Wolves clash
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JAMES MADDISON has been forced out of the England squad due to injury.
The former Leicester City star suffered the blow during Tottenham’s 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea on Monday.
He was substituted in the first half after picking up the problem.
Despite that, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate still named him in his latest squad when he announced it on Thursday.
However, Tottenham have now announced that their playmaker will not be involved and will stay at the club to continue his recovery as fears mount that the damage he suffered is worse than first thought.
A statement from Spurs read: “We can confirm that James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad due to an ankle injury.
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“The midfielder will not feature in the Three Lions' Uefa Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, and will remain at Hotspur Way for rehabilitation with the Club's medical staff.”
The news will come as a bitter setback to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, who gave an update on Maddison's fitness ahead of his side's trip to face Wolves on Saturday.
He said: "Madders is a lot worse than we thought. He came off with an ankle injury and the next day [he] wasn't great so we sent him for a scan.
"It's not great for him and it's probably [out] into the new year."
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Meanwhile, Micky van de Ven is likely to avoid surgery after his hamstring injury but is unlikely to play again this year.
The 22-year-old was another casualty of Monday's dramatic derby against Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Van de Ven, who joined last summer for £43million from Wolfsburg, sustained the injury in first half stoppage time and was forced off.
The Dutch defender and Maddison now join Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon on the sidelines for high-flying Spurs.
And forward Richarlison has undergone surgery on his pelvis.
Postecoglou's team head to Molineux severely depleted and are also without both Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie after their sending-offs against Chelsea.
Romero will be out for the next three games while Udogie was slapped with a one-match suspension.
Southgate’s England have already secured their spot at the summer’s European Championship in Germany ahead of their final qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Maddison has won five caps so far for his country and will no doubt be desperate to return as quickly as possible to lay down a marker for a spot in the side for the upcoming international showpiece.
