England nightmare as Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson withdraw from squad for Germany and Brazil games
Gareth Southgate hit by new injury blow as Manchester City and Liverpool stars leave him without SIX players for key friendlies at Wembley
ENGLAND have suffered a triple injury blow with Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson all ruled out of the friendlies against Germany and Brazil.
Manchester City duo Sterling and Delph have been joined by Liverpool ace Henderson in pulling out of Gareth Southgate's squad.
It means the England boss will now be without SIX players he originally named in his group as he attempts to step up his preparations for the World Cup.
Southgate wanted the clashes with two of the World Cup favourites to provide a true test of the strength of his squad ahead of Russia 2018.
But the England boss has already been hit by the loss of Tottenham trio Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks.
And now he is has been deprived of three more players - leaving his initial plans for the games in ruins.
Henderson suffered the injury last week and it was bad enough to rule him out of Liverpool's 4-1 win over West Ham on Saturday.
He stayed behind at Anfield for treatment when the England squad met up on Monday in the hope he would respond and regain fitness.
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But the 27-year-old, who has captained England under Southgate, failed to recover sufficiently to be considered for any part in either game.
Delph suffered his injury late in City's 3-1 win over Arsenal that saw Pep Guardiola's men maintain their dominance at the top of the Premier League.
And Sterling also finished the game nursing an injury which has been enough to rule him out of the games.
World champions Germany are the first test for Southgate and his players when they visit Wembley on Friday night.
And Brazil visit London next Tuesday for a second tough match of the international break that will go some way to showing how the Three Lions are shaping up for the World Cup.
Southgate has made no secret he wants to try out a new formation of playing three at the back to take into the tournament next summer.
But crucial to those plans will be having a dominant midfield and potency in attack - so the loss of Henderson on top of Kane, Alli and Winks will be a major blow.
He has already been forced to draft in Michael Keane to the squad and Jake Livermore has also been recalled despite being overlooked in the original group named last week.
Southgate now has to decide whether the time is right for him to blood any of the three uncapped players he has called up in such high profile matches.
Swansea striker Tammy Abraham, Crystal Palace ace Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Liverpool defender Joe Gomez are all with the senior squad for the first time.
And Gomez's chance of getting as debut may be increased with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill also nursing an injury.