England are dealing with multiple injury worries ahead of their second World Cup Group L clash against Ghana on Tuesday in Boston, with several key players facing late fitness tests.
Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford are all doubts after concerns emerged following the 4-2 victory over Croatia, a match in which England had to manage several fitness issues within the squad.
Saka and Rashford both came off the bench and combined for England’s fourth goal in that win, but the situation was complicated after Rice was substituted due to a hamstring issue.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel suggested Saka is unlikely to start against Ghana as the team carefully handles his ongoing Achilles problem, with Noni Madueke expected to retain his place on the right flank.
“Bukayo is ready and will get more and more ready,” Tuchel said after the win over Croatia. “Once we get to the last game in the group it is the moment. He was strong yesterday [Tuesday] in training in small spaces. It’s just a matter of if the game is open and up and down.”
Rashford also raised concerns after the match, reporting muscle tightness and is currently being assessed by medical staff, while captain Harry Kane dealt with cramp late on and was seen with strapping during training.
Rice was forced off in the second half after appearing to clutch the upper part of his right leg, prompting Tuchel to bring on Morgan Rogers and shift Jude Bellingham into a deeper midfield role before later deploying Reece James centrally.
“Declan had some unusual ball losses and I saw a bit of discomfort,” Tuchel said. “I asked him, and he pointed directly to his lower back, upper hamstring, that he feels the discomfort.
“I didn’t want to take any risk, so I decided to take Declan off – which I never wanted to do – but it was the moment to protect him, and I think Reece James did so well to replace him in the central midfield. [Rice] had a fantastic game, so I hope it’s nothing more, and he just reassured me at the end: ‘It’s good, and I know the discomfort’. We will take care of it, and this is nothing big to worry about.”
England have already lost Tino Livramento from the squad after he withdrew due to a calf strain, with Trevoh Chalobah brought in as his replacement.
The team will continue preparations at their Kansas City training base over the weekend before travelling to Boston for the Group L fixture.
