Bent and Gerrard Join England Absentees

Darren Bent's prospects of forcing his way into the England side for next month's critical Euro 2008 qualifiers were effectively dashed last night after the Tottenham striker was forced to withdraw from the national squad for tomorrow's friendly against Germany.

The Spurs forward was one of four players ruled out, with Steve McClaren's preparations suffering after the weekend's league fixtures. Bent did not report to the team's Hertfordshire hotel after sustaining the strain in Saturday's win over Derby at White Hart Lane. The striker's withdrawal denies him what would have been a timely opportunity to make his mark against the Germans with September's ties against Israel and Russia in mind.

The Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, was also absent because of the broken toe suffered in last week's Champions League qualifying victory in Toulouse. The midfielder played against Chelsea on Sunday but had an x-ray yesterday. England's medical staff liaised with their counterparts at Anfield and agreed he was unfit.

Also withdrawn, as expected, were the Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves and Portsmouth's Sol Campbell after assessment by the FA's medical team. David Beckham, who played for LA Galaxy in their 5-4 defeat by New York Red Bulls on Saturday before arriving in England on Sunday night, jogged before speaking at length with the on-looking Arsène Wenger and retiring to the changing rooms.

That left McClaren with only 12 outfield players - including the returning Michael Owen - for training at Arsenal's London Colney centre yesterday and only one session today to prepare for the near sell-out fixture against Germany. Eight players, all involved in Sunday's Premiership fixtures, had a recovery session inside.

Germany's own preparations have been just as disjointed, with the majority of the first-choice line-up ruled out by injury. The head coach, Joachim Löw, has lost Clemens Fritz, Mario Gomez, Marcell Jansen, Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira, as well as his captain, Michael Ballack, who is still suffering from an ankle injury. Löw has called up David Odonkor and Gonzalo Castro. Bernd Schneider, captains the side.