BLACKBURN midfielder David Dunn was last night told to put his holidays on hold after England's World Cup injury jinx struck again.

Danny Murphy became the fourth member of Sven Goran Eriksson's midfield contingent to be laid low after landing awkwardly on his left foot in the closing seconds of yesterday afternoon's training session.

And if the Liverpool player fails to make a swift recovery in the next 48 hours then Dunn looks the favourite to win a dramatic World Cup call-up with the finals just eight days away.

England Under 21 chief David Platt last night confirmed he has spoken to Eriksson about the situation.

But the Swede will not be rushed into a knee-jerk decision until he has had time to assess the full extent of his latest set-back.

"I have spoken to him," said Platt, speaking after his side's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Portugal in the European Championships.

"No-one has been drafted in, he just spoke to me just to see who had been doing well.

"Sven explained to me that they have one or two injury problems out there which he's given a week to clear up.

"Basically, it's in the midfield area that he's got the doubts.

"No-one's been called up yet, but one or two players have been put on a type of stand-by, I suppose, in the sense that they shouldn't be booking any holidays just yet."

Murphy had only been in the squad as a replacement for his Anfield midfield colleague Steven Gerrard, who was forced to rule himself out of the World Cup with a groin problem.

With skipper David Beckham (fractured foot) and knee victims Kieron Dyer and Nicky Butt also in a battle to be fit for the opening match with Sweden on June 2, Eriksson currently has only three fit midfielders in Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Joe Cole.

Trevor Sinclair was allowed to return home to England to continue his role as a stand-by should Dyer fail to make a sufficient recovery. So the Swede may now have to consider bringing in further replacements from his Under-21 squad now that his injury list is taking on worrying proportions.

Eriksson has confirmed that all of Platt's squad are now on stand-by but Dunn, Jermaine Defoe, Alan Smith and Gareth Barry would appear to be first in the queue should he need to bolster his squad and make changes to the current personnel before the June 1 deadline.

Football Association spokesman Paul Newman confirmed: "In the last few minutes of Wednesday's training session, Danny Murphy landed awkwardly on his left foot and felt a sudden sharp pain.

"He was sent for an X-ray which failed to show a fracture.

"The England medical staff are now planning a bone scan in the next couple of days to establish the exact nature of the injury, specifically whether there is damage to the bone.

"It is too early to say how serious Danny's injury is or how long it is before he is back to full fitness.

"The England team doctor has been in contact with Liverpool FC to inform them of Danny's condition and we expect to issue a further update on Friday."