Roy Hodgson admits he was left with no choice but to drop Frank Lampard from his Euro 2012 plans, but has no concerns regarding Scott Parker.
But England boss says Parker is fit and raring to go
Roy Hodgson admits he was left with no choice but to drop Frank Lampard from his Euro 2012 plans, but has no further injury concerns to contend with.
Chelsea stalwart Lampard will miss this summer's European Championship after suffering up a thigh injury in training.
He is the second midfielder to suffer an untimely problem, with Manchester City's Gareth Barry already ruled out.
Hodgson opted to add Everton defender Phil Jagielka to his squad after seeing Barry laid low, but found himself short on options once Lampard was struck down.
He was left in no position to gamble on his fitness as a result and has been forced to call upon the services of Liverpool's Jordan Henderson, who had been placed on the standby list.
"We have got the full contingent now and everyone trained, so there are no problems there, it was just the sad news we had to deal with when Frank was injured," Hodgson told
Sky Sports News HD on Friday when asked to give an injury update.
Close
"It's good that Jordan has been able to come in so quickly and join us. But the injury to Frank, we got the scan results yesterday and having to see him leave the group was a very sad moment.
"I think all muscle tears can be close, but there are very few that clear up in less than two weeks. Maybe two to three, but two is very optimistic.
"It was obviously going to be very close indeed and the fact that we have lost Gareth Barry, I hadn't replaced him with another midfield player, I replaced him with Jagielka because I thought we had plenty of cover in different areas.
"There was obviously no chance that I could take a risk again with Frank because there could have been the possibility that he couldn't play in the first two games, possibly even the third, and that would have left my without him and Wayne Rooney."
Barry and Lampard's experience will undoubtedly be missed this summer, but Hodgson is confident Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker will be ready to play a leading role after nursing his way through a niggling Achilles problem.
Asked if he had any concerns regarding Parkers' fitness, Hodgson said: "No, not particularly. None more so than the obvious one we were going to have when he first came to join us not having played for Tottenham in the last two or three matches in the league.
Fitter
"That was going to be a factor, but we also knew that we had lots of training time and in the two weeks we have been training he has taken part in every session. Only the first one was maybe less time than a full session and he has also played 60 minutes already and he is available to play tomorrow (against Belgium).
"He will be getting fitter by the day, as will Wayne Rooney, and we are quite happy that by the time we play France people will be in good physical shape."
It has been suggested that Hodgson should have tested Michael Carrick's resolve after seeing Lampard ruled out, with the Manchester United midfielder having made it clear that he did not want to be considered for selection if he was going to be restricted to a bit-part role.
Hodgson, though, claims he never considered going down that route.
He said: "The contacts with Michael were actually conducted before I took the job and it was made clear to me that he wasn't a player that wanted to be considered, so he wasn't a player that I did consider. At the time, with all the senior players we had at our disposal, it wasn't so important.
"Michael Carrick is a player that I have always admired and, who knows, in the future, if these type of injuries continue, he might have a very important part to play. But then I would have to go and speak to him, and I don't think that was appropriate before these European Championships."
