PHIL NEVILLE'S hopes of joining brother Gary in England's Euro `96 squad received a heavy blow yesterday when he was forced to withdraw from the squad for next Wednesday's friendly against Croatia.
The Manchester United left-back joins Newcastle striker Les Ferdinand and midfielder Robert Lee on England's casualty list, but manager Terry Venables has no plans to call for reinforcements.
Neville has had a recurrence of the ankle injury he had jarred before returning in Wednesday night's vital 1-0 win over Leeds.
Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle, chairman Ken Bates and director Matthew Harding all left a two-hour meeting at Stamford Bridge yesterday without commenting on Hoddle's future.
Hoddle initiated the discussion because of his fears over the club's future direction. His contract expires in the summer.
Hoddle is known to be concerned about priorities at the west London club. He wants to know whether money which has been set aside for the redevelopment of the stadium, including the building of a hotel and leisure complex, will be at the expense of making the playing staff stronger.
The cause of his reluctance to talk about a new contract until now springs from the struggle between Bates and the club's newest director Harding who now, apparently, have reached agreement. It has been reported that Harding will eventually become the club's vice-chairman.
