Steven Gerrard is receiving pain-killing injections to help return him to fitness for England's clash with Germany next week.

The Liverpool midfielder has been ruled out of Friday's friendly against Chile due to the injury he sustained against Fulham last weekend.

However, the Three Lions captain is being given anti-inflammatory jabs with the consent of his club's medics in a desperate bid to regain fitness.

"Steven's had an injection, so we hope he's okay to play against Germany," The Mirror quotes England manager Roy Hodgson as saying.

England crashed out of the 2010 World Cup at the hands of Germany, going down 4-1 to their bitter rivals.