Hodgson’s woes mount as defender Cahill ruled out

England defender Gary Cahill has been ruled out of Euro 2012 with a double fracture of the jaw, the FA announced yesterday.

The 26-year-old suffered the injury when he was shoved in the back by Belgium’s Dries Mertens during the first half of a 1-0 international friendly win at Wembley on Saturday and, as a result, collided with goalkeeper Joe Hart.

He was sent for X-rays and now he has become the third player to drop out of England manager Roy Hodgson’s squad in less than a week after midfielders Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard’s hopes of playing in Poland and Ukraine were dashed by injury.

Liverpool’s Martin Kelly was called up yesterday as a replacement, with Hodgson having already omitted veteran Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand from his original squad.

An FA statement said: “Gary Cahill has been withdrawn from England’s Euro 2012 squad following the injury he suffered in the match against Belgium.

“The Chelsea defender has two fractures of his jaw, one either side. The England medical team have been in close contact overnight with Cahill’s club doctors who will treat him moving forward.

“Liverpool defender Martin Kelly will be called into the squad – subject to agreement from UEFA’s medical team.”

Some good news on the injury front did arrive yesterday when John Terry, Cahill’s Chelsea and England central defensive colleague, was passed fit after suffering a hamstring problem against Belgium.

Saturday’s match was England’s last before they begin their Euro 2012 Group D campaign against France in Donetsk on June 11.

Hodgson immediately feared the worst regarding Cahill’s injury, saying after the match: “The referee gave him (Mertens) a yellow card, which he deserved. Unfortunately for us, the consequences might be a lot more than a yellow card because a fracture is a distinct possibility.”

Now Hodgson has been proved right and he heads to his first major tournament as England manager minus several players from his original squad, with third-choice goalkeeper John Ruddy’s finger injury on the second day of training starting a run of fitness problems.

As well as Terry, England also have concerns over Danny Welbeck, who scored against Belgium, Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker.