Manchester United set to fill in at the back for England.
Roy Hodgson is considering deploying Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick at centre-back according to The Times.
The England manager has seen his squad severely depleted by injury and is running out of choices for his backline.
Carrick’s England team-mate, Rio Ferdinand, pulled out of the squad after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson met with Roy Hodgson to discuss his concerns over how Ferdinand’s call-up could affect his training regime.
England were dealt further blows when Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and Tottenham’s Michael Dawson were also forced to pull out of the squad after suffering injuries during their clubs’ matches during the weekend.
Hodgson has been forced into calling up Joleon Lescott, who has barely featured for Manchester City this term, and Steven Taylor, who has yet to make an appearance for the full England team.
Carrick has previously filled in at centre-back when Manchester United were suffering a similar injury crisis and it appears Hodgson is considering using the midfielder at the back rather than risk the likes of Lescott and Taylor.
England face San Marino and Montenegro as they look to secure their place in next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
They will be especially keen to get a result in the latter game as they currently trail Macedona in the table by two points.