Liam Plunkett in to reinforce England's ailing attack

England have called up Liam Plunkett as bowling cover for the one-day international series against Australia.

Paceman Plunkett will leave the England Lions tour of the Caribbean to join the squad ahead of the seventh and final match in Perth on Sunday.

England's bowling stocks have been reduced to the bare bones in Australia with Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side strain) the latest players to be struck down by injury.

The duo will undergo scans today with fears they will join Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, who flew home early from the tour last week, on the sidelines.

Shahzad suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday's 51-run defeat in Brisbane, which saw England lose the series after falling behind 4-1, while Tremlett did not take his place due to a slight side strain.

With those concerns, England have opted to rush Plunkett, who last played for England during the tour of Bangladesh in March, from the other side of the world, although he will be unable to make it to Australia in time for tomorrow's sixth match in Sydney.

England team director Andy Flower said: "Liam Plunkett has been part of the England performance programme and England Lions squad this winter so we are confident that he will be ready to play a role for England should the need arise.

"We are waiting for an update on the injuries to Ajmal Shahzad and Chris Tremlett but, with our preparations for the World Cup starting in less than a fortnight, we need to prioritise getting our World Cup squad members fit and ready for the start of the tournament."

England were given some good injury news yesterday with long-term absentee Stuart Broad revealing he was ahead of schedule in his return from the stomach injury he suffered during the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

The injury forced the 24-year-old to return home before Christmas but, after flying back to Australia to step up his recovery last week, he is hopeful he will be fit to return in England's first warm-up game against Canada in Dhaka on February 16.

"I probably bowled about 50-60 per cent yesterday," he said, "and I've pulled up fine this morning. "Hopefully, by the end of this tour, I will have come off near to a full run-up. My aim is to try and play the first warm-up game of the World Cup."

Broad is confident that England will have a clean bill of health when they play their World Cup opener against Holland on February 22 in Nagpur.

"The injuries are pretty minor so I don't think that is going to affect any balance to the World Cup squad, but obviously it is a little bit frustrating in this series to have lost as many players as we have," he said.