England U21s have their own injury crisis
TOM DAVIES HAS added to Aidy Boothroyd’s mounting problems after he was ruled out of England Under 21s’ Euro 2019 qualifier in Ukraine tomorrow. Everton midfielder Davies has returned to his club to have treatment on a hamstring issue. Although the injury is not serious, it was enough to leave Boothroyd with no option but to release him from St George’s Park yesterday. ‘We don’t want to risk anything, especially as he has played so many games and done so well for Everton this season,’ the U21 boss said. ‘If we had a second game, he would be ready for it but we have sent him back.’ Just as Gareth Southgate has been hit by withdrawals from the senior side, Boothroyd is without seven players picked for the U21s’ final fixtures against Scotland and Andorra. Captain Joe Gomez, Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been promoted to the seniors, while injured trio Ben Chilwell, Josh Onomah and Dael Fry were released on Monday. That could become eight as New York City FC forward Jack Harrison is battling to be fit. Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook will take over the captaincy from Gomez, while West Brom midfielder Sam Field has been elevated in the place of Davies. Boothroyd will not release the squad immediately after they return from Kiev even though they do not have a game. They will use the time for a training camp and will attend the senior game against Brazil on Tuesday. ‘We’re going to keep them together,’ said Boothroyd. ‘We will do a training camp and do some team-building activities before we go to Wembley.’ England lead Group 4 after three wins and a draw, but Ukraine are the group’s other unbeaten side.