Defoe, Wilshere and Carroll out of first two Euro 2012 qualifiers

Jermain Defoe, Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll are three players who will not feature in England’s squad for their opening Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland next month.

Tottenham striker Defoe has ruled himself out in order to undergo surgery on a groin problem, which will leave him on the sidelines for between two to four weeks.

Defoe has been hampered by the injury since the World Cup, but will feature in Tottenham’s significantly important Champions League second leg at White Hart Lane against Young Boys as they look to turn around a 3-2 reverse from the first leg.

Meanwhile, Wilshere and Carroll have both been picked by England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce for games against Portugal and Lithuania.

Wilshere made his senior bow as a late substitute in England’s friendly win over Hungary earlier this month and has since started in both of Arsenal’s Premier League games.

Carroll was also touted as potentially making his first senior squad after scoring a hat-trick in Newcastle’s 6-0 success in their most recent Premier League outing against Aston Villa.

Despite a disappointing World Cup which saw Fabio Capello’s England eliminated in the second round, they are 2/7 to top Group G and seal their place at Euro 2012.

If they do manage to qualify from the group, which also includes Wales and Montenegro, then they are 8/1 to triumph at the tournament which is being jointly hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.

Spain won both Euro 2008 and this year’s World Cup and are 4/1 to make it three big victories in a row at Euro 2012. See the entire Euro 2012 winners market.