Gareth Southgate has spoken of the 'upsetting' scenes that followed Joe Gomez sustaining the knee injury that has forced him to withdraw from the England squad.
The Liverpool defender has been sent back to his club for further assessment after breaking down during training with the Three Lions on Wednesday afternoon.
Hewon't be involved in games against Ireland, Belgium and Iceland as a result, and it is feared that a long-term absence could be in the offing.
The defender previously suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in October 2015, a blow that forced him to miss the remainder of that season and restricted him to just three appearances the following campaign.
And, while Southgate did not wish to speculate on the severity of this latest issue, he offered a grim account of how it was sustained.
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"I can't tell you how serious it is because he is yet to have scans," he said.
"What was upsetting to see, he was in a fair bit of pain. There was nobody around him when the injury happened. I didn't like that element of it.
"But we've just got to wait and see what the scans show. We're all hopeful for him that it's not what it might be. But it's not a good situation. I don't see him being involved in the games with us, that's for sure."
"We can't speculate the exact nature of the injury. It's not possible until we've seen scans. My immediate thoughts are with him. He's had some difficulties with injuries in the past.
"We're hoping and praying it is not going to be a long-term one. We'll just have to see."
Joe Gomez 
Liverpool 
