The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Maddison ruled out of Euro 2020 games
ENGLAND: Illness forces Leicester star to withdraw from Three Lions squad
James Maddison has withdrawn from the England squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria due to an illness.
The Leicester midfielder has made an impressive start to the Premier League campaign and was in strong contention to make a senior debut in this round of matches.
However, the Football Association announced the 22-year-old would play no part for Gareth Southgate’s men.
“James Maddison has withdrawn from the England squad through illness,” the FA said in a statement.
“There will be no replacement called up for the Leicester player and a 23-man squad will travel to Prague on Thursday ahead of the Three Lions’ Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria.”
Maddison, who has four caps for England Under-21s, was first called into the senior squad this time last year by Southgate.
The former Coventry and Norwich player moved to Leicester in the summer of 2018, and has started seven of the Foxes’ eight Premier League matches so far, scoring twice.
Maddison joins Fabian Delph on the sidelines, after the Everton midfielder withdrew from the squad on Monday due to a hamstring injury.
England would qualify for Euro 2020 with a win over the Czechs in Prague tonight.
Meanwhile Czech head coach Jaroslav Silhavy will target the Three Lions defensive imperfections.
England have won all four qualifiers to date but were given a scare last time out by Kosovo, who took the lead at St Mary’s thanks to some dreadful defending and threatened a second-half comeback as the hosts eventually held out for a 5-3 win.
That scoreline took Silhavy aback and gives the second-place Czechs hope of sealing a positive result at the Sinobo Stadium. He said: “We were quite surprised when we learned the match ended 5-3 but we ourselves know Kosovo is very strong and in attack they have great players.
“England made mistakes but they don’t repeat that often. England maybe could have scored nine goals so great strength. What we saw in that game was England are not perfect and we hope to take advantage.”
It will take a mammoth effort to inflict the Three Lions’ first defeat in 43 Euro and World Cup qualifying matches, especially with the attacking threats at their disposal.
Raheem Sterling has been particularly impressive for his country of late, having scored eight and provided four more across his last eight England appearances.
“It’s not only Raheem Sterling obviously,”SilhavysaidoftheManchester City forward.
“England have a great squad and it’s all about team-work. Sterling is really fast, and speed is his strength, but he has great team-mates. We really need to focus on him, guard him, not let him turn and always know where he’s at.”