England have confirmed five withdrawals from Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of their September and October Nations League fixtures.
Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento have all been ruled out of England’s upcoming fixtures, with Morgan Gibbs-White and James Garner called up as replacements.
Palmer and Rice have withdrawn for load management, while Rashford and Livramento have picked up injuries. Mainoo has also been ruled out after struggling with his fitness.
Initial player expectations
The withdrawals come just days after Tuchel discussed his expectations for both Palmer and Gibbs-White following the latter’s strong form for Nottingham Forest.
“We can see the form Morgan is in and he ended the season very strongly and was the key player for Forest to not be relegated,” Tuchel said.
“We can see him stepping up now. It’s one thing to be nominated and getting back in the squad and to perform. Cole needs to show these kinds of numbers and performances to get his shirt and justify the nomination.”
Palmer had only recently returned to the England set-up after being left out of Tuchel’s World Cup squad, while the Chelsea forward has made a strong start to the new season with four goals and two assists in seven appearances.
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Opportunities for Mainoo
Tuchel had also admitted he wanted to give Mainoo more opportunities after the Manchester United midfielder failed to feature at the World Cup.
“I expect him to be on the pitch and it’s my duty to get him on the pitch,” Tuchel said.
“We trusted them more than we trusted Kobbie. It was difficult for him. It was on me.”
Mainoo was substituted during United’s 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday, while Rashford also left the game after appearing to struggle with an issue.
England begin their Nations League campaign against world champions Spain at Wembley on September 26 before travelling to Czechia and Croatia, with a second meeting against Czechia completing the four-match window on October 6.
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