England's James Maddison is "definitely close" to returning from the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup opener against Iran, according to journalist Ben Dinnery.

The Three Lions midfielder will be hoping to be fit to be picked by manager Gareth Southgate for the second group game against the USA, which takes place on Friday.

What is the latest news involving Maddison?

The 26-year-old has been dealing with a knee injury sustained in Leicester City's 2-0 victory against West Ham United, his final club game before jetting off to the Qatar World Cup, in which he was withdrawn after 25 minutes.

Upon arrival at England's camp, the playmaker missed multiple days of training with the team, and was therefore not in contention for a starting berth in what transpired to be a 6-2 victory against Iran on Monday.

Reports emanating from the Daily Mail detail that the England players who did not feature in the last match were involved in a more intense training session, which was mandatory for any player fit enough to partake, however Maddison was not deemed ready to take part.

What has Dinnery said about Maddison?

Dinnery claims that Southgate will be monitoring the situation one day at a time, and details that the expectation is that the maestro will get his chance to play at some point over the next two games, telling GIVEMESPORT: "He's definitely close, it's a daily assessment with him, discussions even prior to going across to Qatar would've been around when James Maddison will be okay.

"Certainly the feeling is that he will feature at some point in those group games, otherwise Gareth Southgate would've looked elsewhere."

How much of a boost would Maddison's return be?

England are blessed with talent in forward areas, and this was displayed in the opening match, with Bukayo Saka scoring a brace, as well as Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish also helping themselves to goals.

As such, the Three Lions should be able to progress from Group B with the current options at their disposal, however should they do so, games will get get tougher in the knockout rounds, and Maddison would be a fantastic option to have available, at least off the bench.

Gary Lineker praised the "brilliance" of the Premier League performances that helped the Leicester man force his way into the 26-man squad, and for good reason, as a tally of four assists is the second-highest amount totalled by any English player, behind Saka.

Southgate will be hoping that the star returns to full fitness soon, which appears likely according to Dinnery, and he could prove to be a real asset in the latter stages of the Qatar tournament.