PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs have been urged to CANCEL the last round of fixtures before the World Cup.
That’s as injuries begin to pile up for Gareth Southgate and England.
Ben Chilwell became the latest Three Lions star to pick up a problem ahead of this month’s tournament in Qatar.
The left-back looked to suffer a hamstring injury at the end of Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
And SunSport can exclusively reveal Chilwell’s dream of playing at the World Cup is over after he left Stamford Bridge on crutches.
Chelsea teammate Reece James is already set to miss out on Southgate’s squad.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Chilwell injury before World Cup as Chelsea progress in Champions League
Free bets today: Get £20 bonus when you stake £5 on horse racing with Coral
And Man City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are racing to be fit.
Meanwhile, Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also unlikely to recover in time.
And Southgate will now be sweating over the rest of England’s stars as he prepares to name his final squad.
There are issues for other countries too, with South Korea potentially without captain Son Heung-Min due to a fractured eye.
Most read in Football
Erling Haaland shows off bold new hairstyle as striker recovers from injury
Meet the World Cup WAGS – from a karate expert to stunning Miss Belgium
Ronnie Radford dead at 79 as tributes paid to ace who scored famous FA Cup goal
Chelsea star Loftus-Cheek included in Southgate's 55-man England World Cup squad
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
- England vs Iran – all you need to know for Three Lions' opener
- USA vs Wales – all the TV and live stream info for Dragons' first World Cup match in 64 years
But former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara reckons one way to avoid further injury woe is for the final round of Premier League fixtures to be axed.
Teams still have two matches to play, with the final round taking place on November 12 and 13 – just a week before the World Cup starts.
There are also Carabao Cup ties to be played in between the league fixtures.
And O’Hara is confident scrapping the last set of matches will make life a lot easier for Southgate and other managers.
There are too many games and too many injuries
O’Hara told TalkSport: “Cancel the last round of games in the Premier League, give them a bit of breathing space.
“The Premier League should do it, or the players should get involved.
“This is the problem with the Premier League. It’s all about money, all about getting the revenue in. The players are not being protected.
“It’s as simple as that. There are too many games and too many injuries and England are going to suffer.”
O’Hara’s thoughts echo those of Argentina’s FA, who are hoping English clubs will let South American stars depart for World Cup duty before the final league games.
Read More on The Sun
I’m a tatted up dad & took my baby to get his first ‘inking’ – people slam me
I’m a savvy mum…I’ve got my son a huge Christmas present haul with 50p bargains
But England captain Harry Kane insists he’s looking forward to playing all the matches, as it will give him and teammates confidence heading into Qatar 2022.
Tottenham star Kane said: “We've got three games before the World Cup and hopefully we can use tonight to finish strongly and if we can be there or thereabouts in the Premier League and get through in the Carabao Cup, it'll be a really good start to the season.”
Source: Read Full Article