Injured Phil Jagielka withdraws from England squad

The Everton centre back joins Glen Johnson and Raheem Sterling in pulling out of Gareth Southgate’s first match as England caretaker manager on Saturday.

Jagielka will not be replaced in the squad and the news means that John Stones, Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill are in contention to start, with Burnley's Michael Keane also an option after he was called up in place of Johnson.

"While the injury is not considered to be serious, he will return to Everton to be assessed," Everton said in a statement on their website.

England host Malta at Wembley Stadium on Saturday before travelling to take on Slovenia three days later. England enjoyed a last-gasp 1-0 victory away to Slovakia in their opening Group F game last month. The group also includes Scotland and Lithuania.