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England have confirmed Reece James has withdrawn from their squad for the upcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia due to an injury suffered during Chelsea's win against Liverpool on Saturday.
The 25-year-old completed 90 minutes for the Blues in their dramatic victory over the Reds at the weekend but did so while suffering an injury. A statement from the England national team read: "Nico O'Reilly has received his first call up to the England senior squad.
"The 20-year-old moves across from the MU21s squad and comes into contention for the Three Lions' forthcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia. The inclusion of O'Reilly, who has been capped from MU15 through to MU20 level, follows the withdrawal of Reece James.
"The Chelsea captain sustained an injury playing for his club over the weekend and has been ruled out of England’s October internationals following medical assessments."
James has been in superb form for Chelsea at the start of the season and the club and player alike will be hoping this latest problem is nothing serious. The Blues captain has been largely injury free in 2025 after consistent muscular issues riddled the right-back up until that point.
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In the aftermath of the victory over Liverpool on Saturday night, James took to his Instagram page to post an image of a cut he sustained during the match. While it is not clear at this point if said cut is the reason for his withdrawal, it was an example of the club captain fighting through the pain barrier to help his side in their time of need.
Josh Acheampong and Benoit Badiashile started the game as the two centre-backs but both limped off in the second-half at Stamford Bridge, meaning James had to move into a central role - something he is not accustomed to doing. Given Chelsea's injury crisis when it comes to central defenders, James was asked to protect the goal alongside Jorrel Hato, who came on for Badiashile.
"I didn't expect to play centre-back, it's one of the positions I've never played before," James explained post-match. "It's high-level football, I had to adapt and play the best football I could. At the moment I am close to my best."
English (US) ·