England keep close eye on Oxlade-Chamberlain

England will monitor Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain over the next few days before deciding whether his knee ligament injury will rule him out of the World Cup.

Oxlade-Chamberlain fell awkwardly after a clumsy challenge by Carlos Gruezo in England’s 2-2 draw against Ecuador at Sun Life Stadium, Miami on Wednesday night.

Scans taken yesterday showed the extent of the damage, which looks not to be as bad as first feared.

“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a medial knee ligament injury during the game against Ecuador,” an FA statement read. “The England medical team are continuing to monitor and treat the injury.”

Reports suggest Oxlade-Chamberlain has only suffered a ligament strain, rather than a tear. If that is the case then he can expect to be out for two to three weeks.

That would rule Oxlade-Chamberlain out of England’s first Group D match against Italy on June 14, but he could make the second fixture against Uruguay in Sao Paulo five days later.

Oxlade-Chamberlain last night showed he is maintaining a positive outlook, tweeting: “Gutted to have picked up an injury yesterday. I’m staying positive and getting to work with the medical team on recovery..Fingers crossed!”

England boss Roy Hodgson will not make a snap judgement on whether he wants to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain. The England manager is willing to give Oxlade-Chamberlain time to prove his fitness and see how he reacts to his rehabilitation programme here in Miami, where the Three Lions play Honduras in their final warm-up game on Saturday.

Plus, under FIFA rules, Hodgson has until June 13 — 24 hours before England play Italy- to make any changes to his squad.