Sao Paulo - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still not fit enough to play for England at the World Cup, with the midfielder ruled out of Thursday's match against Uruguay.
The 20-year-old Arsenal midfielder injured knee ligaments two weeks ago in a warm-up against Ecuador, and was mostly restricted to fitness work away from his teammates in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
“He's not in contention for tomorrow [Thursday] but he will take part in the next full training session,” England coach Roy Hodgson said Wednesday. “At the limit, we could have taken a chance with him tomorrow but it'll be better to use the four days before the Costa Rica game to train with the team.
“His injury has responded very well to treatment and I don't think we'll put him into the firing line tomorrow [Thursday] before he has some training sessions with the team.”
England plays Uruguay in Sao Paulo after losing 2-1 to Italy in its opening match in Group D. Uruguay lost 3-1 to Costa Rica.
Sapa-AP