James picked up a serious knee injury whilst playing against AC Milan in October and was ruled out for at least eight weeks, which all but ruled out his chances of making it to Qatar.
However, according to the Evening Standard, the right-back has told his close friends that his recovery is ahead of schedule and that his is confident of a place in Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad.
The 22-year-old flew to Dubai earlier this week to continue his rehabilitation alongside a member of the Chelsea medical department, who is sending regular updates to the FA regarding his fitness.
Southgate and James have also been in contact but the manager has not put any pressure on the defender to speed up his recovery.
Southgate will select his 26-man squad for Qatar next Thursday and at least one of England’s star right-backs is expected to not be called-up.
Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold are likely to make the cut with James and Manchester City’s Kyle Walker fighting to be fit in time, with the latter also currently on the sidelines with a groin injury.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with Arsenal, Chelsea boss Graham Potter claimed he had no new updates from Dubai surrounding James’ injury.
Even if James is selected for the World Cup he may not prove fit enough for England’s opening game against Iran on November 21 but could feature further into the tournament.
A similar situation occurred at Euro 2020, when Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson were still recovering from injury at the beginning of the summer only to go on and play a key part in the Three Lions’ run to the final.
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