Posted on May 25

Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy has been forced to withdraw from England's Euro 2012 squad after suffering a broken finger.

Ruddy, who has yet to win his first senior England cap, had been expected to compete with West Ham's Robert Green for the right to be the main back-up to established number one Joe Hart.

But the 25-year-old, who enjoyed an impressive season in the Premier League with the Canaries, was hit with a devastating blow when he broke a finger in training with his England team-mates at Manchester City's Eastlands Stadium on Thursday.

Birmingham's young goalkeeper Jack Butland, who spent this season on loan at League Two club Cheltenham, will now join the squad for the Euros.

But he will not arrive until next week ahead of the second warm-up fixture against Belgium, so Hodgson will have to use Hart or Green in his first match in charge against Norway in Oslo on Saturday.

A statement on the Football Association website said: "The FA can confirm that Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy broke his finger in training on Thursday and has been ruled out of Euro 2012."

The only slender consolation for Ruddy is that he is now free to concentrate fully on preparations for his wedding.

Ruddy hadn't expected to feature in the Euros and had booked his wedding to fiancee Laura for June 2, the same day that England will host Belgium.

The Carrow Road number one, who had to miss his bachelor party to join up with England, initially offered to cancel the wedding but Hodgson told him to take the day off so the wedding could go ahead.

"Thank you for the messages, gutted but determined to come back better next season, can't wait for the wedding now!" Ruddy wrote on Twitter in response to commiserations from fans.

"Taken lots of positives from the 2 days training, and the biggest positive is that it happened with England before a major tournament!

"Also to everyone who has asked... as if it wasn't unlucky enough, it IS my ring finger and also my first ever broken bone!"