Three key England players miss full training as doubts raised over fitness ahead of Slovakia game

Three of England’d starting players could miss out on the knockout match with Slovakia after they were absent from training today.

England qualified for the Euro 2024 round of 16 on Tuesday, with Slovakia their opponents in the next round of the tournament.

Despite disappointing performances in the two draws with Denmark and Slovenia, England progressed to the knockout stages on top of Group C.

But, they could be without Phil Foden for the match against Slovakia, after the Manchester City winger left the England camp on Wednesday for a family matter.

And fresh concerns have been raised over the fitness of Declan Rice and Kieran Trippier after both players missed England’s full training session today.

In a post on X, journalist Henry Winter confirmed the news, stating: “Rice and Trippier not training with the main group today. Doing work inside on ‘load management,’ might be sensible given the thunder around training.”

The Arsenal and Newcastle United stars did however train privately and therefore could still be available for Sunday’s match against Slovakia, which kicks off at 5pm BST at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.

Both men have been crucial to the England team and have started all three matches, playing almost every minute of the campaign so far.

But, should Trippier be unavailable, then England fans will hope that Luke Shaw may be available to start the game, after it was revealed the the Manchester United left-back was targeting the Slovakia game as his return from a lengthy injury.

Declan Rice, Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden all started for England against Slovenia on Tuesday. (Image: Getty)

In the absence of Rice, Kobbie Mainoo could potentially step in to England’s starting lineup, having come off of the bench to make his European Championship debut in England’s opening match against Serbia.

And should Foden miss the match after returning home for the birth of his third child, then one of Eberechi Eze or Anthony Gordon will likely start on the left-wing, with both players impressing during their substitute appearances against Denmark and Slovenia respectively.

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