Gareth Southgate calms Crystal Palace fears after Ruben Loftus-Cheek hobbled off injured for England

The midfielder lasted only 34 minutes before being substituted at Wembley

Southgate insisted the midfielder recovered quickly (Getty)

Gareth Southgate has taken steps to reassure Crystal Palace fans that Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s first-half withdrawal through injury was not serious.

The midfielder, who made a promising debut in a man-of-the-match performance against Germany on Friday was given his second international start against Brazil but was removed after 34 minutes with a back injury.

“It’s a problem with his back which he has had periodically,” Southgate said. “It should settle down fairly quickly. I don’t expect it to be a problem.”

The injury occurred when he was knocked off the ball during one of Brazil’s many attacks and he looked in some discomfort. Although he came back on after receiving treatment, he didn’t settle and was replaced by Jesse Lingard.

Southgate admitted before the game at Wembley on Tuesday night that he would have to keep an eye on the 21-year-old after his efforts four days earlier and revealed after the match that Loftus-Cheek’s body needs to adapt to playing more regularly.

“We’re going to have to give him time to build his resilience,” Soutgate said. “He’s already played more minutes than he did in the whole of last season.

“But he’s way stronger than he was a year or two ago. Then, it was difficult for him to finish 90 minutes. It’s a disappointment for him to come off, but these 10 days have been a massive stride forward for him.”