Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka will not be part of the England squad for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Andorra.
The Three Lions take on the side ranked 173rd in the World on Saturday evening (5pm kick-off) in Barcelona. However, Thomas Tuchel has had to omit three players from his matchday squad for the game.
The decision to leave Saka out of the squad is down to precaution over ‘discomfort’ that the Arsenal man felt following the final game of the season against Southampton. It has caused him to miss some training in the build-up to the match against Andorra.
On Saka, Tuchel said: “It’s nice to see that he’s back because he wanted to be back, and you straight away see when he comes in that he is comfortable to be with the squad, he knows what it takes to be a national player.
“He came into camp with a little bit of discomfort from the last match against Southampton, so we took care of him and treated him individually until (Friday) basically.
“It was the first training session that he started and finished with the group. (Thursday), he started with the group but did not finish with the group, so let’s see.
“I’m not sure if we take the risk for the game. The decision has not been taken, but he will be available for the Senegal match, and he plays a major role in our thoughts of how to build a competitive team.”
After the game against Andorra, the Three Lions return to England where they will take on Senegal in a friendly. The game takes place on Tuesday, 10 June with kick-off at 7.45pm and will be played at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.
Asked if clubs had requested players did not feature in both Saturday’s qualifier against Andorra and the Senegal friendly on Tuesday, he said: “No one has asked me that question.
“I said also many times, I was like 15 years I think in club football, I think I have never asked an international coach what to do and how to use the players.
“We have very limited time for ourselves. We have our very own interest also to see a lot of the players that are in camp and maybe even all of the players that are in camp, so we have an own interest to mix the teams.
“But no coach has called me and there was no request from the FA that a club called.
“We know the clubs have a lot of matches and the players go after to the Club World Cup.
“But it can also happen that some players start twice for us, but like I said, we also have an interest to see a lot of players in these two matches, so I think we will not in the end upset anyone.”
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