(Reuters) – Manchester City defender Kyle Walker said he is confident he will fully recover from a groin surgery in time to be available for selection in the England squad for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Walker, 32, went under the knife earlier this month after picking up the injury in City’s 6-3 Premier League home victory over Manchester United.
“My first thought now is getting back for England,” Walker, who has 70 caps and was a key member of the England teams that reached the Euro 2020 final and 2018 World Cup semi-finals, told the BBC on Friday.
“I’m confident” about being ready for the World Cup, he said. “I’ve been through enough in my career to know my body. I’m well above what they thought I’d be able to do at this point.
“I just feel I can do this. There will be bumps in the road but hopefully, come the selection, I’m included.”
Walker said he underwent surgery the day after getting injured to improve his chances of being fit in time for selection.
“It was a little bit manic,” Walker said. “I went down on the Monday and I said to the surgeon, ‘Please mate, you’re going to have to do it, I have a World Cup’.
“He wanted to do it on the Thursday but he said I’ll meet you there in an hour. He jumped on the tube, I got in the car and that was it, I was under the knife having surgery.”
Walker’s return would provide a solution for England’s issues at right back, with Chelsea’s Reece James a doubt for the World Cup after picking up a knee injury, while Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has struggled for form in recent weeks.
England begin their Group B campaign in Qatar against Iran on Nov. 21.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
