Werner ruled out for Germany

Timo Werner will miss Germany’s World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan due to a neck muscle injury.

The striker – who has scored six goals in eight appearances for his country – was taken off after 32 minutes of RB Leipzig’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Besiktas last Tuesday, afterwards admitting that the raucous atmosphere at the Vodafone Park had made him dizzy.

Leipzig said in the aftermath of their trip to Istanbul that there was “no exact diagnosis” to the problem, but Werner did not feature in his club’s 2-1 victory over Bundesliga rivals Cologne at the weekend.

Now the 21-year-old will also sit out Germany’s final two games in Group C, as they travel to Northern Ireland on Thursday before hosting Azerbaijan in Kaiserslautern on October 8.

National coach Joachim Low opted not to call up a replacement at short notice, meaning a squad of 22 will make the trip to Belfast.

The world champions will be without Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, as well as long-term absentees Manuel Neuer, Jonas Hector and Mario Gomez, as they look to secure a place at Russia 2018.