England’s Frank Lampard faces a scan today to determine if he will be fit to feature at Euro 2012 after the Chelsea midfielder suffered a thigh injury during training yesterday.
Lampard’s injury is serious enough for England manager Roy Hodgson to have put Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson on stand-by in case the 33-year-old is unable to recover in time.
Lampard, who had only just joined up with the England squad after an extended break following Chelsea’s Champions League final victory, will be assessed by England’s medical team before any decision is taken about his participation.
England’s first group match against France is just 12 days away and Hodgson can ill-afford any more injury problems in midfield after Manchester City’s Gareth Barry was ruled out of the Euros with a tear of his lower abdomen.
Hodgson has already gambled on the fitness of Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck, who has not played since April 30 when he sustained an ankle injury in the derby defeat at Manchester City.
Glen Johnson has also been struggling with an infected toe.
Although Lampard was not certain to beat Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker for the central midfield berths in Hodgson’s starting line-up against France, it would still be a major blow as the Chelsea man has been in superb form.
He played key roles in the Champions League and FA Cup triumphs over the final weeks of the season.
Just 24 hours before suffering his injury, Lampard had spoken about how he hoped England would bene-fit from Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League final win.
Chelsea quartet Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill were all named in Hodgson’s squad and the midfielder said: “I’m hoping the fact we’ve had such a success can help greatly with England.
“There are other people here who have won the Champions League before and other players who have had good seasons and are coming here in a rich vein of form.”
Hodgson has one more friendly, against Belgium at Wembley on Saturday, before his 23-man squad fly to their Polish base next week.