(AFP) England coach Gareth Southgate admitted on Sunday that he feared other players might be injured before the World Cup in Qatar due to the busy calendar.

"What I see is a really busy schedule, a lot of players who are going to play a lot of minutes and I think, realistically, we're going to lose more (players)," Southgate said when asked about Manchester City defender Kyle Walker, who suffered an injury for the Premier League champions.

"I just find that the matches are very intense and (the players) play a lot," he added on the sidelines of the 2024 European Cup qualifiers draw in Frankfurt.

And the "Three Lions" team received a painful blow last September in the absence of the other Manchester City midfielder, Calvin Phillips, one of the most prominent players in the national team's squad, due to his shoulder surgery and doubts about his participation in the World Cup in Qatar.

Southgate added, "For these two players we will have to determine the level of their physical condition, because we will not play a friendly match before the finals."
The English coach also indicated that he intends to reveal his squad for the World Cup “perhaps before the end of the last stage” before the Premier League stopped shortly before 12 November.
"I don't think there will be a need for many players on the reserve list because by then we have to have a fairly accurate picture" of the players available, he said.
It is noteworthy that the World Cup draw dropped England in Group Two, along with Iran, Wales and the United States.