Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater turned down the opportunity to play for England during the current international break, according to Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate.
The England manager is dealing with somewhat of an injury crisis ahead of friendlies against Germany and Brazil this week, with seven senior players having pulled out of his squad to return to their clubs for treatment.
Drinkwater turned down the call-up as he feels that he isn’t yet sharp enough for international football, according to Southgate (via the Express):
He felt he wasn’t ready yet to play this level,
We had a bit of this conversation last week – I wanted to find out where he felt he was.
If Danny didn’t feel he was ready, I can understand given the amount of minutes he’s had and didn’t play at the end of the season with Leicester either.
Drinkwater only recently recovered from a calf injury which kept him from making his Chelsea debut for much longer than he would have liked.
With Harry Winks and Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur both notable absentees in central midfield, Drinkwater would have been a shoe-in for a start against Germany on Friday night had he accepted the call-up — but his refusal has paved the way for another Chelsea man to get involved.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, currently on loan at Crystal Palace from Chelsea, is expected to make his senior England debut against the world champions.
