Michael Carrick was stretchered off against Spain while playing for England and could be out for weeks, with fears of ankle ligament damage.

Carrick played for 91 minutes in Alicante as his country were dominated and beaten 2-0 by an impressive Spain side. He twisted his ankle badly and the England staff fear that he may have damaged his ankle ligament.

The midfielder is certainly out of England's second friendly of the international break against France, who beat world champions Germany 2-0 at the same time, Carrick's Manchester United teammate Anthony Martial assisting one of the goals.

Carrick injury 'does not look good' says England manager

Michael Carrick is carried off by stretcher

England boss Roy Hodgson told media after the game that "it doesn't look good." The former-Liverpool manager said Carrick has "severely twisted his ankle" and continued to say he feared it was ligament damage.

Carrick has suffered many injuries in his career, including one earlier this season which meant he had to pull out of the England squad in September. An ankle ligament injury would mean he, alongside Antonio Valencia, who had an operation on his foot, and Luke Shaw, who broke his leg, would be out for months.

At 34 years old, Carrick will take longer to recover from this setback than a young teenager like Shaw or Martial. There has been no confirmation on ligament damage yet and it is likely a scan will be needed to see the extent of the injury.

The hope is, if it is indeed an ankle ligament injury, that it will not produce long-term issues for Carrick. Often players can fail to return to full fitness following injuries like this and it can cause problems in future, providing a niggling injury for older players.

Carrick has faced more competition than over the last few years with the arrival of Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger this summer as well Daley Blind and Ander Herrera last summer and Marouane Fellaini the year before.

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About the author
Harry Robinson
Deputy Editor-in-Chief at VAVEL UK, and Manchester United Editor.