England manager Gareth Southgate says Trent Alexander-Arnold’s suspected thigh injury will be assessed over the next 48 hours, but admitted seeing the right-back limp off against Austria was “not a good sign”.
Alexander-Arnold pulled up in the final minutes of Wednesday’s 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium after clearing the ball and was then supported while walking down the sideline to receive treatment from the England medical staff.
It has raised doubts about the Liverpool defender’s availability for England’s Euro 2020 campaign, which gets underway in less than two weeks against Croatia at Wembley on June 13.
Speaking to Sky Sports News after the match, Southgate said: “We’ve got to see, it’s obviously not a good sign that he’s had to walk off the pitch, and he was in some discomfort.
Can England make squad changes?
After the June 1 deadline, UEFA says that teams will be able to replace players for serious injury or illness – including coronavirus or “close contact” with a positive case. They will be able to replace goalkeepers throughout the tournament in the event of serious injury or illness.
“We’re so close to the finals that for any player, injuries makes them a doubt. But we will just have to see over the next 48 hours.”
Asked who would get the call if Alexander-Arnold was ruled out, he said: “Let’s see how Trent is first then we’ll go from there.”
Alexander-Arnold was selected in Southgate’s 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament, but his inclusion was one of the biggest topics of debate in the build-up to Tuesday’s announcement.
Southgate opted to pick four right-backs, refusing to drop Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Reece James or Alexander-Arnold.
But, depending on the severity of the Liverpool defender’s injury, Southgate may be forced to make some late changes to his squad ahead of the start of the tournament on June 11.
Ben Godfrey, Jesse Lingard, Aaron Ramsdale, James Ward-Prowse, Ollie Watkins and Ben White were among those in the provisional 33-man squad that did not make the final 26.
Southgate offers Grealish and Henderson update
Southgate downplayed concerns over Jack Grealish, who only recently returned from a shin issue and was taken off in the second half.
0:20
England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Jordan Henderson was originally meant to face Austria but did not feature in the match after having a precautionary scan.
Jordan Henderson had been due to play his first minutes for club or country since undergoing groin surgery in February, but the Liverpool captain remained on the bench against Austria.
“With Jack, we just felt that that was enough time,” Southgate said.
1:33
After playing in an unfamiliar role in England’s 1-0 win over Austria, Jack Grealish claims he doesn’t mind where Gareth Southgate plays him as long as he’s on the pitch.
“I think you can see still a little bit of sharpness still coming and we didn’t want to overplay him through that period.
“With Jordan, we had hoped to involve him today. That was the original plan. This morning he wasn’t so happy with how he felt.
“We’ve scanned him just to be certain. There’s no problem on the scan so he’ll be able to resume training but we’ve taken a decision to leave him out of this game.”
