Drinkwater baulks at call-up

GARETH SOUTHGATE has revealed that Danny Drinkwater turned down an England call-up because he ‘didn’t feel ready’. The England boss wanted Drinkwater to join up with the squad this week, only to have the offer rebuffed. Chelsea say their £30million signing from Leicester has suffered a recurrence of the calf injury that kept him out for the opening two months of the season. Southgate will pick a youthful team including debutants Tammy Abraham, Jordan Pickford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to play Germany tonight, and Eric Dier will captain the side. Pickford was selected after Stoke No 1 Jack Butland broke his finger in training. Drinkwater’s decision to skip international duty raises questions over the midfielder’s desire to play for England. Stamford Bridge insiders insisted yesterday that he injured his calf coming on as a substitute against Manchester United on Sunday, a problem that has hindered his training. However, Southgate did not make reference to any injury when discussing Drinkwater’s situation yesterday. ‘I wanted to find out where he felt he was,’ said Southgate. ‘He’s obviously only played 70 minutes for Chelsea in terms of starting and he felt he wasn’t ready yet to play this level. ‘If Danny didn’t feel he was ready I can understand, given the amount of minutes he’s had.’ Drinkwater’s unavailability means he has missed England’s previous six camps through various injury complaints. Indeed, England insiders fear Drinkwater’s desire to play for England is, perhaps, not as high as other members of the squad. ‘He has not been fit for the last three camps, you can’t do anything about that,’ said Southgate. ‘Would I consider him in March? I would have thought so. But we might have other players back. I can’t hypothesise over who I might be calling in March. I have no idea of where he’s at physically.’