England Under-21s head coach Gareth Southgate will not be able to rely on Carl Jenkinson making it all the way through both legs of the European Championship play-off with Croatia.
The 22-year-old joined West Ham on a season-long loan in the summer but an injury-disrupted start to life at Upton Park meant his first start only arrived on Saturday.
Jenkinson suffered no recurrence of his hamstring complaint in the 2-0 defeat of QPR and joined up with his England Under-21 team-mates as they look to secure their place in next summer's finals in the Czech Republic.
Croatia stand in their way, with the first leg at Wolves' Molineux stadium on Friday before the return fixture in Vinkovci next Tuesday - matches Southgate knows the right-back is unlikely to be at full fitness for.
"Sunday was his first 90 minutes since he was out with a hamstring injury," the Young Lions boss said.
"Not only because of the recovery from the injury but also because of the first 90 minutes he had back means he's still recovering.
"It's one that we'll be quite careful with because I think on the back of an injury, having played his first 90 minutes, he would be unlikely to play two 90 minutes for us physically.
"So we have just got to assess it, really, but I am not putting him under any pressure. It is important he feels comfortable with everything and that he's ready to train.
"I would think he will do some sort of training [on Wednesday] but not fully with the team just yet."
Jenkinson is one of three players in the Under-21s squad to have featured for the senior team, along with Jack Butland and Luke Shaw.
The latter still felt sore in training on Tuesday after sustaining a dead leg in Manchester United's win against Everton, although Southgate foresees no problem with the left-back's fitness.
"We've one or two little minor niggles, but Luke's absolutely fine," he said.
"He followed the programme we would have for him on the back of him playing on Sunday. He did 50 minutes of our session and he is in a good place."
Source: PA
