Crocked England defender Luke Shaw could have been in the team of the tournament at Euro 2016, according to Roy Hodgson.
The 20-year-old Manchester United left-back suffered a double leg break in their Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven last month and has since undergone two operations.
While Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal hopes to have Shaw back in six months, England manager Hodgson appears to be preparing to enter the tournament in France without the highly-rated former Southampton man.
"We were certainly punting on him being the (England) left-back and arguably looking to be the best left-back in the tournament," he said of Shaw, who currently has six senior caps.
"It is a cruel blow, particularly for him, England will survive and he will too but at that stage in your career to suffer that type of injury when you have almost had a year of not playing is heart-breaking and we feel for him - and he knows how much we care."
Shaw had started the season in fine form for club and country before he was taken out with a sliding tackle by Hector Moreno in the 15th minute of the group stage match in Holland.
Replays showed Moreno had swept both of Shaw's feet from underneath him and his right foot lay at an angle.
He stayed down for eight minutes of treatment before being carried off on a stretcher while receiving oxygen - with confirmation he had broken his leg in two places coming soon afterwards.
Hodgson revealed he had attempted to speak to Shaw shortly after the match and praised the impact he has had on the England coaches since breaking into the senior set-up in February 2014.
He added: "These days you speak to players by text. It is not easy to get them on the phone, especially as I was trying to reach him on the phone very shortly after the injury when he was still in hospital.
"I think Luke knows how much we care about him and how much we think of him - he will realise from the work he has done with us what I and the other coaching staff have said, we really had high hopes for Luke in 2016."
With Shaw sidelined, current Southampton full-back Ryan Bertrand will be hoping to be given a chance to impress when England face Estonia and Lithuania in their forthcoming European Championship qualification double-header.
With a place at Euro 2016 already assured, Hodgson could look at both Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs and Bertrand, who has only started one league game for Saints since returning from summer knee surgery, as alternatives to Shaw.
Source: PA
