Thomas Tuchel has confirmed John Stones’ withdrawal from the England squad. The Manchester City defender was called up to the squad to face Andorra and Serbia in this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
But a day before the game against Andorra at Villa Park, the England manager on Friday morning confirmed that Stones has left the Three Lions’ camp. Tuchel said he does not want to take any risks with the 31-year-old, who arrived at the training camp with a “muscular issue” that has not improved. He said: “He came with minor issues – muscle issues – to camp and didn’t progress as we thought and hoped he would, so he left camp this morning.”
The German added: “Everyone else is available. We had 21 players yesterday in training and 21 players today in training and hopefully make sure everyone is available for tomorrow.”
Stones, who suffered form repeated injuries last season, had started all three of Manchester City’s Premier League games this season.
Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah are Tuchel’s remaining centre-back options.
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