Lampard ruled out of Brazil friendly

England coach Fabio Capello will be without both his first choice central midfielders for tomorrow's friendly against Brazil in Qatar after Chelsea's Frank Lampard injured his thigh during training yesterday.

"We can confirm that Frank Lampard picked up an injury to his thigh whilst training today and will be returning home this evening. There will be no further call-ups to the squad," an FA spokesman told reporters yesterday.

Lampard's withdrawal is bad news for Chelsea, who have suffered a string of injuries over the last few days that could affect their Premier League title bid.

However, for England it is reminiscent of the friendly with Germany last November, when Capello found himself without most of his senior stars.

Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, David James, Theo Walcott, Glen Johnson and Emile Heskey did not even make the trip to Qatar from what would constitute Capello's first-choice line-up.

In addition, David Beckham and Aaron Lennon have been ruled out, leaving Capello to select a virtual second-string line-up, bolstered by captain John Terry and forward Wayne Rooney.