Wright-Phillips to miss England´s WCup qualifiers

Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has been ruled out of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra with a knee injury.

Wright-Phillips was expected to be named in Fabio Capello’s squad for the June double-header, but City manager Mark Hughes said on Friday the former Chelsea star is due for a knee operation that will sideline him for several months.

Hughes had hoped Wright-Phillips would play in City’s clash against Bolton on Sunday to prove his fitness for England. Instead he is set for a “wash-out” of his knee in the hope he can return for the start of next season.

“Shaun trained earlier this week but he got a reaction,” Hughes said. “Now he will have to see a specialist.

“He is not going to be available at the weekend and he may well have a wash out of his knee in the close-season that would enable him to be fit for the start of pre-season training.

“He has worked really hard trying to get fit but this problem needs to be addressed and we must look at it.”

Group Six leaders England face Kazakhstan on June 6 and host Andorra at Wembley on June 10.

Wright-Phillips’ absence is the latest blow to Capello, who has already lost injured goalkeepers David James and Ben Foster for the qualifiers.