Aston Villa and England Under-21s midfielder Jacob Ramsey has been ruled out for the remainder of the Young Lions' Under-21 Euro 2023 campaign through injury.
The 22-year-old completed 67 minutes of Sunday's 1-0 quarter-final win over Portugal before having to be taken off with an ankle problem.
Manager Lee Carsley cut a pessimistic figure on Ramsey's fitness after the match and insisted that he would not be prepared to administer pain injections to his up-and-coming starlets.
"We'll assess Jacob tomorrow. We won't be taking any chances. If there's a chance of a player with injections, they won't be doing that," Carsley told the media after the game.
"It's still development football. Jacob's in good hands. It's hard to tell, he's got a lot of numbness in his foot and ankle."
Emile Smith Rowe came on to replace Ramsey, who is now confirmed to be sitting out the remainder of the tournament in Romania and Georgia as England gear up for Wednesday's semi-final with Israel.
Midfielder @JacobRamsey41 will play no further part in our #U21EURO campaign after picking up an injury during the #YoungLions' quarter-final win over Portugal.
— England (@England) July 4, 2023
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Jacob! 👊
Ramsey - who was seen departing the stadium on crutches at the weekend - will soon return to the UK for further assessment, and The Athletic claims that the midfielder is set to visit a specialist.
It is still unclear whether Ramsey's problem is serious enough to require surgery, but he has already emerged as a doubt for the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
The 22-year-old departs the Euros having scored one goal and set up one more in four matches, netting England's first of the tournament in their 2-0 win over Czech Republic in the group phase.
Ramsey captained the Young Lions in their final group-stage fixture against defending champions Germany, providing an assist for Cameron Archer as England prevailed 2-0 to cruise into the quarter-finals with three wins from three.
Ramsey also enjoyed an impressive 2022-23 Premier League season with Villa, scoring six goals and setting up seven more in 35 matches to help the Lions qualify for the Europa Conference League.
As well as the midfielder's withdrawal, England Under-21 boss Carsley must work around the absences of Ben Johnson and Max Aarons for the semi-finals, as both full-backs will serve suspensions for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Should England defeat Israel on Wednesday, they will face either Spain or Ukraine in the final on July 8, while Villa begin the new Premier League season away to Newcastle United on August 12.
Ben Knapton
