International soccer: England lose U21 duo

England’s Under-21 squad for tomorrow’s friendly with Slovenia has been reduced to 16 after Arsenal defender Matthew Upson and Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves pulled out through injury.

Hargreaves has a knee injury while Upson had to be substituted with an ankle problem in Arsenal’s win over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

England coach David Platt said: ‘‘Every time you name a squad and there are matches at the weekend you expect to lose some players, but I suppose it’s not too bad because I’ve only lost two.’’