England duo Declan Rice and Kieran Trippier absent as Luke Shaw trains ahead of Slovakia knockout clash
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Declan Rice and Kieran Trippier both missed England training on Thursday morning, as Gareth Southgate’s squad began their preparations for Sunday’s Euro 2024 last-16 tie against Slovakia.
The Football Association (FA) said neither Rice or Trippier are injured but both players trained individually to manage their workload.
Luke Shaw took part in the training session as the Manchester United defender targets a belated return to action against Slovakia, while Phil Foden was absent having temporarily returned home to be with his girlfriend for the birth of his third child.
Shaw has been sidelined since mid-February because of a hamstring injury and did not play a minute in the group stage.
Southgate took what he admitted was a gamble in naming Shaw as the only specialist left-back in his final 26-man tournament squad.
Whether Southgate would thrust Shaw straight back into his starting lineup remains to be seen. He is more likely to make his comeback off the bench against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen.
England, though, have badly missed a natural left-footer on that side of defence, with Trippier deputising across the first three group matches and Kyle Walker finishing the Slovenia game in the position after Trent Alexander-Arnold was brought on over on the right.
Trippier has been defensively solid, but England have lacked for width, with the Newcastle man reluctant to overlap Phil Foden, who has started each of the first three matches on the left wing but with licence to drift inside.
Shaw has been excellent for England at each of the last two major tournaments, scoring the opening goal in the final of the last Euros against Italy at Wembley, but his rehabilitation has been complicated.
Ahead of last month’s FA Cup final, he suffered a setback that at the time looked likely to rule him out of this summer’s tournament entirely.
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