Southgate will give Lallana until last minute to get fit and earn his place on the plane

GARETH SOUTHGATE will give injury-plagued Adam Lallana every chance of making the World Cup squad.

The Liverpool midfielder has gone to South Africa to step up his rehabilitation programme following a hamstring injury.

Lallana, desperate to be on the plane to Russia, also has the carrot of a place in Liverpool’s squad for the Champions League final should they get past semi-final opponents Roma.

Southgate (above) sees Lallana as central to his plans this summer and will be extra patient with the Kop star, especially with Jack Wilshere’s fitness in question. England boss Southgate, who plans to name his 23-man squad by mid-May, is short of midfield options and has been reluctant to call-up Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey.

So Lallana seems certain to be on the plane to Russia if he can prove he has fully recovered from the injuries that have wrecked his season. If Lallana (right) can prove his fitness, he will go to the World Cup a fresh player.

Southgate won’t have been heartened by the words of his first-choice right-back Kyle Walker, who reckons England need a miracle to win the World Cup this summer. The Manchester City defender (left) said: “Let’s be realistic. To win the World Cup this summer is going to take a miracle.

“We have got the players to do it – a lot of us play in probably the best league in the world – but have we got the experience of going further in competitions? No, we haven’t. Not in recent years. There are a lot of good teams out there and our record in tournaments has not been fantastic.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations inside the camp. England haven’t won a knock-out game for God knows how many years so for us to go there and win a knockout game... well, that would be a step in the right direction.”

England have announced two home friendlies later this year – against Switzerland on September 11 and USA on November 15.

By then Fulham’s 17-year-old winger Ryan Sessegnon is likely to have been fast-tracked into the set-up – if he is playing in the Premier League.