Gareth Southgate admits he ‘doesn’t know’ if Kalvin Phillips will recover from injury for World Cup

Gareth Southgate has spoken of his fears regarding Kalvin Phillips’ fitness ahead of the World Cup.

The Manchester City midfielder withdrew from the current squad with the intention of undergoing shoulder surgery, leaving him in a race against time to prove his fitness.

‘You only have the quality of performances for us and Leeds and the fact that he has now moved to a big club to see his level.

‘He had a huge impact when he came into the squad and was a big part of the run to a European final.

‘The honest answer to the injury is that we don’t know. It’s obviously going to be very tight because the recovery from that surgery is the first part and the second part is whether he can play enough football once he’s healthy to be considered.

So we are always optimistic. When there is a goal and someone is really hungry to achieve it, it’s amazing what the body can do.

– He had a dislocated shoulder in the last game of the season before the EC, so that was quite a remarkable recovery in itself.

“We’ll just have to wait and see and I know he’s disappointed to miss this camp and fully focused on getting back for his club and hopefully for us.”