Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson set to miss England World Cup qualifiers

England dealt double injury blow ahead of matches against San Marino and Montenegro

by David Hytner 2 months ago

The Tottenham manager, André Villas-Boas, said Aaron Lennon would not be fit for England's World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro while Michael Dawson would most likely be unable to play as well, although the Spurs players will report for fitness assessments with the national team doctors.

England play against San Marino on Friday, four days before their trip to Montenegro.

Dawson, whose call-up was the most recent high point of a season that had started with him on the transfer list at Tottenham, was forced off at half time in Sunday's 0-1 home defeat to Fulham after he felt his hamstring tighten. Lennon was not in the match-day squad because of his ongoing struggle with groin and hamstring problems.

"Michael felt his muscle going in the first half," said Villas-Boas, "and if we had brought him on in the second half, we would be risking a major injury. I think Michael will be assessed by the England team doctors … they will be in communication with our medical department to find out if he will make it or not but he probably won't.

"We were much more sensible with Aaron [against Fulham] … and he won't be able to make it [for England]. He has been struggling a lot with injuries. We risked him the other night as a substitute against Inter Milan in the Europa League and he is on the brink of rupturing his muscle so we decided to take him out of this game."