Depleted England turn to Welbeck

England have been dealt a big blow ahead of their crunch qualifier against Switzerland after Daniel Sturridge was ruled out with a thigh injury.

The Liverpool striker was one of the few players to impress in England’s otherwise poor 1-0 win over Norway on Wednesday night.

But Sturridge will not be available for Monday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against the Swiss because of a thigh injury he suffered in training.

An FA spokesman said: “Daniel Sturridge picked up an injury on his thigh in training.

“He has had a scan and will now return to Liverpool FC for treatment. He will play no part in the forthcoming Switzerland match.”

The FA also confirmed no replacement would be called up for Sturridge, who started the Norway game up front, alongside captain Wayne Rooney.

England will travel to Switzerland tomorrow morning with just 19 players, two of whom are goalkeepers.

If England manage to avoid any more injuries, six outfield players will be on the bench at St Jakob-Park.

Danny Welbeck looks likely to replace Sturridge in the starting XI. Welbeck was also one of the few players to come out of the win over Norway with reputation enhanced.

The 23-year-old substitute injected pace, invention and verve into what was, at the time, a dull performance from Roy Hodgson’s side, who won the match thanks to Wayne Rooney’s penalty.

With Olivier Giroud out for three months because of an ankle injury, Welbeck is also likely to slot straight into the Arsenal starting XI following his move from United.

Jack Wilshere backed his new Arsenal team-mate Welbeck to have a successful season for club and country.

“He is a great addition for Arsenal and hopefully he will keep performing for England as well,” the Arsenal and England midfielder said.

“He has got great enthusiasm, he wants to run, he will track back, and he has got great quality. A lot of people don’t give him credit for his technical ability, but he is great on the ball. I am sure there were a few clubs wanting him and there are not many players his age who move from one big club to another big club, so that shows his quality.”

Just 40,181 people turned up to watch the victory against Norway but Wilshere thinks England can start to win the fans back by beating the Swiss in Basle on Monday.

“Going over to Switzerland is a tough game but we know if we put in the performance and get the result, the fans are going to come back on our side,” said Wilshere, who feels the negative reaction to England’s winless World Cup campaign was over the top.

“If people analysed it a bit more they would have been a bit kinder, there were just a few individual errors and a few lapses in concentration — but at that level that is what you are going to get.

“When you are playing against (Mario) Balotelli and (Luis) Suarez that is what you are going to get, they are going to punish you and they did.”