Danny Drinkwater reject England call up – Southgate

Danny Drinkwater has struggled with injury since joining Chelsea

Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater declined an England call-up but manager Gareth Southgate says any talk of club-versus-country rows is “nonsense”.

Drinkwater is lacking fitness and news of his decision comes after six players pulled out of Southgate’s squad for friendlies with Germany and Brazil.

“The players are injured and cannot play,” Southgate told BBC Radio 5 live.

“I am not a manager who wants to reel players out until they break. I don’t take risks with players.”

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He added: “I have man-to-man discussions with them around where they are at and how much risk we want to take.

“Hearing this talk of club v country, it is a nonsense.”

Drinkwater joined Chelsea from Leicester on transfer deadline day in August but only made his debut for his new club in late October because of a thigh problem.

“I spoke to Danny earlier in the week but he feels he is not fit enough to play,” Southgate added.

Tottenham’s Harry Kane is among the six withdrawals but his club manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed the striker is “OK” and “available” for the Premier League trip to rivals Arsenal on 18 November.

Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Harry Winks are the other players to have pulled out.

Meanwhile, Chelsea defender Gary Cahill was the only player missing from training on Thursday morning.

Two England Under-20 internationals – Tayo Edun of Fulham and Jay Dasilva, who is on loan at Charlton from Chelsea – were invited to take part in the session.

Crystal Palace midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 21, will reportedly be given his England debut against Germany on Friday (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Southgate’s side face Brazil at Wembley Stadium next Tuesday (20:00).