Michael Carrick has been forced to pull out of the England squad after suffering a groin injury.

The Manchester United midfielder had been reinstated in the national squad for the forthcoming matches with Slovenia and Scotland.

Carrick, who last appeared for England in their World Cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley last year, had been in line for a first appearance since being overlooked by Roy Hodgson for the summer finals in Brazil.

The 33-year-old, who picked up the injury at St George's Park, will have a scan to discover the severity of the injury.

The injury is a huge blow for both England and the midfielder himself, with Hodgson believed to have turned to Carrick to fill a void now left by the retired duo of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

The FA said in a statement: "Michael Carrick will return to his club on Wednesday evening after sustaining a minor groin injury in training this morning. There will be no call ups at this time."

Twenty-four hours before his withdrawal, Carrick spoke of his pride at earning a recall to the England squad.

Carrick was named on the standby list for the World Cup but did not go to the  tournament even though Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered an injury in a warm-up game against Ecuador.

Despite being overlooked for the tournament, Carrick insisted he never thought about retiring from international duty.

"No, I was never tempted to (retire)," Carrick said.

"I am only 33 now so hopefully I have got a few more years left, so it was never something that crossed my mind.

"I think you appreciate it a bit more the older you get and the closer you come towards the end of your career. You push things a bit more and being back now is great."
(Sky Sports)