Switzerland vs England: Daniel Sturridge left heartbroken as England lose striker to thigh injury

Sturridge picked up the knock in training and he will miss the trip to Switzerland after returning to Liverpool for treatment

Daniel Sturridge is an injury doubt for England for their match against Switzerland (Getty Images)

Roy Hodgson’s preparations for England’s first Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland on Monday were dealt a major blow on Friday when Daniel Sturridge was ruled out of the match with a thigh injury.

The Liverpool striker was injured during training at St George’s Park on Friday and underwent a scan at the Football Association’s medical centre before it was decided that he would return to his club for treatment.

Sturridge later tweeted: “Absolutely gutted I can’t play. Injury is the worst part of football and the hardest thing to deal with. I’m genuinely heartbroken right now.”

He has been a major part of Hodgson’s England team this year, starting all three games in the World Cup in Brazil, and if the manager is to persevere with the same 4-4-2 formation as he used in the uninspiring 1-0 victory over Norway, he will have to use Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck or Liverpool’s Rickie Lambert in attack to partner Wayne Rooney.

Between them Welbeck and Lambert have 11 international goals. Hodgson may decide to play a 4-3-3 formation and strengthen his midfield in Basel on Monday, which could mean he would only select Rooney from his available strikers. Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling would all be in contention to play either side of Rooney.

Sturridge’s withdrawal takes the number of injured potential England players to 15. He could also miss Liverpool’s next Premier League match against Aston Villa at Anfield next Saturday.