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Drinkwater snubs England SOS for the THIRD time and Southgate is rapidly running out of patience

DANNY DRINKWATER snubbed a desperate SOS to solve England’s injury crisis.

Gareth Southgate tried to call up the Chelsea midfielder after SIX players withdrew, but Drinkwater (left) insisted he was not fit enough.

It is the third time he has turned down England, and Southgate (right) admitted

he might not get another chance, ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

Chelsea (manager Antonio Conte, above) insist the 27-year-old suffered a recurrence of a calf injury on Sunday, in the victory over Manchester United.

The club said he could not even do the warm down, and is now doing just light training to get himself fit.

Former Leicester midfielder Drinkwater, who has won three caps, was disappointed at being left out of the Euro 2016 squad, and since then has made himself unavailable – last November with bruised ribs and a groin issue in March.

Three Lions boss Southgate has been desperate to call up the player as he is short of midfield options, but this could be the end of the road for his international career.

When asked whether he would call up Drinkwater for the next friendlies in March, Southgate said: “I’ve no idea. I would have thought so. But we might have other players back by then. I can’t hypothesise over who I might be calling in March, but that’s the answer.

“You’ve got to be able to cover the ground, you’ve got to feel that you are in peak physical condition. It’s a conversation we have with the players all the time.

“He’s not been fit for the last three camps. You can’t do anything about that. I thought it would be worth finding out where he was, given there’s a chance he plays for Chelsea this year, plays at a good level.”