England Under-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd has revealed Ruben Loftus-Cheek is "devastated" at missing out on the European Championships in Poland this summer, but insists there is enough quality in his squad to replace the Chelsea midfielder.
Loftus-Cheek, 21, did not make Boothroyd's final 23-man squad, which was announced on Monday morning, because of a back injury.
The Chelsea academy graduate has played a key role in the Young Lions' qualifying campaign for the Euro Finals this summer and was also present when the team participated in the European Championships in the Czech Republic two years ago.
And Boothroyd admitted that Loftus-Cheek's absence is a blow to England, but insisted he has other options to take up the Chelsea midfielder's No.10 role in the team.
"Ruben’s been up with us and spent some time at St. George’s Park, he loves coming away with England and he’s devastated at missing out," Boothroyd told the FA's official website.
"But he’s had an ongoing issue which has been managed and it was thought best that for his progress individually, it was important that he had a rest this time and didn’t come with us. We’re working hard with Chelsea and with him to get him back fit as soon as possible.
"We’re disappointed as well because he is a good player and a key player for us, but as he said to me, he’s looking forward to getting himself fit and coming back ready for our next campaign and that first qualifier against the Dutch in September.
"It’s unfortunate, but it means we can re-shuffle and we’ve got very able players in John Swift, Jack Grealish and Lewis Baker, who has had a phenomenal season, who can go into that number ten role and go and create and score goals for us."
The European Under-21 tournament starts on Friday 16 June. England play Sweden in their opening match before the team take on Poland and Slovakia.
