Danny Drinkwater made the controversial decision to reject a late England call-up from Gareth Southgate on Thursday.

With Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson and Fabian Delph all pulling out, Southgate turned to the Chelsea midfielder to bolster his midfield ranks.

But Drinkwater said no, telling the England manager that he doesn't feel match fit.

"He's only played 70 minutes for Chelsea in terms of starting and he felt he wasn't ready yet to play this level," said Southgate.

"We had a bit of this conversation last week in that the physical demands at this level are incredibly high now.

"If Danny didn't feel he was ready for that, I can understand given the minutes he's had."

England fans were entirely torn over Drinkwater's decision, with some praising the 27-year-old for being sensible and others slamming him for rejecting playing for his country.

Whichever way you look at it, Drinkwater could end up regretting saying no to Southgate, especially judging by The Sun's latest report.

They claim Southgate is privately disappointed in Drinkwater for not joining the England squad, even if he isn't ready for a full 90 minutes yet.

Drinkwater played 22 minutes against Manchester United last weekend, suggesting he could have still done a job if required.

But he opted to stay in west London with Chelsea, with Southgate now set to completely snub him for future friendlies and even next summer's World Cup in Russia.

Southgate hinted as much when asked whether Drinkwater will be selected for the friendlies in March, saying: "I've no idea. We might have other players back by then."

Drinkwater was overlooked in favour of Jack Wilshere for Euro 2016 and there's now a good chance history will repeat itself.

England are blessed with strength in depth in midfield, which means Drinkwater faces a near impossible task to make the squad for Russia.