Gareth Southgate was forced to leave Reece James out of England’s World Cup squad (Getty/England)

Gareth Southgate insists it was a ‘tough call’ to leave Reece James out of England’s World Cup squad but believes the Chelsea right-back would not have enough time to recover for the tournament.

James suffered a knee injury in Chelsea’s Champions League clash with AC Milan last month but did not require surgery and instead began an intense rehabilitation programme in Dubai.

Earlier this week, Chelsea manager Graham Potter revealed that James had returned to light training and was able to jog during Tuesday’s session.

But Southgate feels the tight recovery time made it difficult to justify including James in England’s squad and believes the Chelsea defender would’ve missed all three Group B games against Iran, USA and Wales.

When asked about James’ omission from the squad, Southgate said: ‘Of course, we had to make a very difficult call with Reece, who we think is a fantastic player.

Reece James suffered a knee injury in Chelsea’s Champions League clash with AC Milan last month (Getty)

‘But he wasn’t going to be available, if everything went perfectly, until the latter stages of the tournament, and there were too many unknowns for us on that road to recovery.

‘And also I don’t think we can take a player who’s not available for the group, that would be deemed arrogant in some circles. But also, if everything went well and he was available and he was ready and we were picking him, then we’d be dropping him into a quarter-final after eight weeks out. That would be really demanding. A tough call.’

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Speaking about the decision, James said in a message on social media: ‘Devastated.

‘The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible.

I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed I could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take.

‘Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe and sending love.’

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The Chelsea star is currently out injured yet Kyle Walker, who hasn’t played for Man City since early October, has been selected.