Ake adds to Dutch defensive woes for Euros qualifiers

Nathan Ake has pulled out of the Netherlands squad for their final two European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and Gibraltar due to injury.

Manchester City's Ake is the latest defender to join the Dutch injury list, with Sven Botman, Matthijs de Ligt, Jurrien Timber and Micky van de Ven also absent for the run-in as they look to secure a place at next year’s finals in Germany.

Ake, who has 42 caps, missed City's dramatic Premier League draw with Chelsea on Sunday. Neither the club nor the Dutch football association (KNVB) have offered any details of the injury.

The KNVB said it would not call up a replacement for Ake for the matches against Ireland in Amsterdam on Saturday and Gibraltar away on November 21.

The Dutch will qualify if they beat Ireland.