Sturridge & Hart out of Italy friendly; Dempsey misses Mexico

Goalie Jack Butland may be close to a senior England debut

LONDON, England    ●  England boss Roy Hodgson will not be able to call on Manchester City’s Joe Hart or Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge for this week’s friendly with Italy, after both pulled out of the squad with injuries.

Hart and Sturridge have both been ruled out of the encounter in Berne with back and toe injuries respectively, with Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland inching closer to making a remarkable England debut.

Hodgson has taken the unusual decision not to call-up any replacements, meaning Butland and Norwich’s John Ruddy are the only two keepers left in his squad.

Neither man has ever won a senior cap, however the Norwich keeper is favourite to start after he was ruled out of the Euro 2012 tournament after breaking a finger on his first day of training.

Butland, 19, has so far only had experience at senior level in League Two for Cheltenham last season, although he did play for Great Britain during their Olympic campaign.

Sturridge missed a penalty in the shootout as Team GB were knocked out of London 2012 by South Korea at the quarter-finals stage, while Hart took no part on Sunday as Manchester City won the Community Shield against Chelsea.

●  Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo are among the veterans omitted from the U.S. roster for Wednesday night’s exhibition game at Mexico, while defenders Steven Beitashour and Matt Besler could make their national team debuts.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann took six players from Mexican clubs in the 22-man group he announced Sunday: defenders Edgar Castillo and Michael Orozco, midfielders DaMarcus Beasley, Joe Corona and Jose Torres, and forward Herculez Gomez.

Just seven players are based in Europe: goalkeeper Tim Howard, defenders Geoff Cameron and Fabian Johnson, midfielders Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones and Danny Williams, and forward Terrence Boyd.

Brek Shea returns after being dropped from the national team for much of this year.

Off to a 1-0-1 start in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, the U.S. is preparing for a pair of qualifiers against Jamaica, on the road on Sept. 7 and at Columbus, Ohio, four days later.