Portsmouth goalkeeper James has won 48 international caps
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James will undergo a shoulder operation on Wednesday that will rule him out of England's World Cup qualifiers in June.
James missed Pompey's 3-1 win over Sunderland and will now be unavailable for England's games against Kazakhstan on 6 June and Andorra four days later.
"It's an injury I've been carrying for 18 months," he told BBC Radio Solent.
"I wanted to wait until Portsmouth were safe, but unfortunately the recuperation period is long."
The 38-year-old added: "I'm going to miss a couple of England games, which is unavoidable.
"Having started every game for Mr Capello, I'd have liked to have continued that, but I'm making the best of a bad situation.
"It's important I get back and start pre-season well and get myself in 100% shape for next season and be part of a successful England team."
James, who won his 48th England cap against Ukraine in April, had played every minute of Portsmouth's Premier League campaign before Monday night's game.
But England manager Fabio Capello, who has stuck by James as his number one choice, will now have to look elsewhere.
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has insisted Capello should recall former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson after his impressive form this season.
The 29-year-old was beaten twice in Blackburn's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea on Sunday but pulled off a string of fine saves under heavy pressure.
"Paul was world class again," said Allardyce.
"He has really come into the forefront over the last 10 games and really worked very, very hard at his all-round goalkeeping.
"Fabio Capello was not at Chelsea but he should have been and he should have been there watching Blackburn last week as Paul is back on top of his form.
And Allardyce claimed Robinson, whose last of 41 caps came against Russia in October 2007, deserves another chance ahead of the summer World Cup qualifiers.
"As an English goalkeeper, he is performing the best in this country at the moment," he stated.
"Paul is right up there now and is producing the sort of saves on a regular basis which helped us to get clear of relegation."
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