Lampard out of Israel match, Gerrard recovering

Frank Lampard has been ruled out of England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on Saturday with a thigh injury although the midfielder has a 50-50 chance of being fit to face Russia next week.

Lampard, who scored his 13th goal for England in last month's 2-1 home defeat by Germany in a friendly, missed training yesterday and returned to his Premier League club for treatment on a torn thigh muscle.

"We looked at the scans and liaised with Chelsea," England head coach Steve McClaren told a news conference.

"We've sent him back to the club, he's rehabbing there. The injury is not as serious as first thought and we're hopeful of assessing him on Saturday.

"There's a 50-50 chance he may be ready for next week. We're giving him every chance to be available for us against Russia."

The news was better for Steven Gerrard, who is expected to have recovered from a hairline fracture on a toe in time to play against the Israelis.

"I'm very confident that Stevie G will be with us on Saturday for what is a very important game," McClaren said. "He wants to play, I want him to play, the team does, the whole country does."

John Terry and Owen Hargreaves also missed training but were expected to be back with the rest of the squad today.