Southgate confirms key England man is fit for crunch WC qualifier
Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Jack Grealish will be fit for England’s crucial World Cup qualifier with Albania at Wembley.
The England boss said Manchester City’s Grealish had been struggling with illness but was ready to play his part. The Three Lions need four points from their final two qualifying outings to book their place in Qatar next year.
Southgate told a press conference ahead of the game: “Jack’s had some illness and has missed some training so, he’s trained this morning with the rest of the group. Again, we’ve had a few medical issues this week – I’m just trying to remember who’s had what – but he’s available for the game and he’s ready if required.”
On Mason Mount and Luke Shaw, he added: “I’ve got to check in with our medical staff for today’s update.
“Obviously, the longer that goes, the less likely it is (Mount and Shaw could be involved against San Marino). It’s different situations really. Mason’s got to recover from this dental surgery.
“With Luke, there’s very strict guidelines on concussion markers and I know, the early part of the week the first day he didn’t pass the marker so that got shifted back and rightly, we’re going to follow the guidelines on that but we might run out of time. We’ll just have to see.”
Southgate was confident preparations have gone well, despite being without some key players.
Forward Marcus Rashford and midfielder James Ward-Prowse did not report for England duty and Declan Rice (illness) withdrew from the squad earlier this week.
While Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe received his first call-up to England’s senior squad on Monday.
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Southgate said: “Training’s been very good. We’ve obviously had quite a few players withdrawing from the squad. But we’re used to dealing with that.
“It’s never straightforward and we’ve just got on with it. I don’t think anybody here would have felt there’s anything unusual about the way that we’ve prepared.
“We’ve been really happy with the level of training and the attitude of the players and we’re looking forward to the game tomorrow.”
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