Phil Jones has not dislocated a shoulder but he is still waiting anxiously to discover if he can be available for England's World Cup squad as there are fears the Manchester United defender may have damaged ligaments.
Although the news that there is no dislocation – or fracture – is a boost, until a specialist and the club doctor have examined scans taken on Jones' left shoulder, there can be no definite prognosis regarding the severity of the injury.
Roy Hodgson names a 23-man squad on Monday for the Brazil tournament, with the England manager loth to take any player whose fitness may be in the balance. Cardiff City's Steven Caulker may come into the equation if Jones is ruled out.
The loss of Jones would be a blow to Hodgson because he offers valuable cover at right-back, centre-half and in central midfield. The 22-year-old suffered the problem in a first-half collision with Hull City's Maynor Figueroa in United's 3-1 win at Old Trafford on Tuesday
After the match United's interim manager, Ryan Giggs, said: "Just by his reaction he knew he had done something and he wanted to come off. Usually as a player you know that something is not great when you do that."
If Jones does not recover in time, the pundit Gary Lineker has backed Everton's 19-year-old defender John Stones as a potential replacement for England. "The only one I might take a chance on because we are so short in central defence is Stones," said the former England striker. "I really like him. He has got a lot about him. Sometimes central defenders need a little bit more experience than players in other positions because of the extra discipline and the nature of that particular role.
"If he [Hodgson] loses another one – if Jones doesn't make it for example – what else have we got? We have got [Gary] Cahill and [Phil] Jagielka and then Caulker, who struggles a little bit on the turn. We are short in that position."
Jones's United team-mate Michael Carrick stated he felt for him. "I can only imagine what it must be like, getting injured so late on," the midfielder said. "It didn't look great for him and hopefully it is not as bad as it looks but it is a problem at this stage of the season when anyone gets an injury because you are in danger of missing the summer. The only thing you can say is that he is so young and is that good that the chances will come again but at this stage it is not going to soften the blow for him. If that is the case then I am hugely disappointed for him because he obviously doesn't deserve that.
"The World Cup is the World Cup, whatever squad is picked; anyone who goes can play because of the way things work out. There is not going to be a team set in stone that is going see the whole tournament through so whatever squad he [Hodgson] picks will play. But for someone to miss out with an injury at this stage is devastating."
