England lose Gomez and Henderson
Joe Gomez and Jordan Henderson are to miss England’s final Uefa Euro 2020 qualifier in Kosovo today due to illness and injury respectively.
Gomez was hurt when clashing knees in an accidental collision with Kieran Trippier.
His Liverpool team-mate Henderson missed the 7-0 home win over Montenegro after arriving in the England camp with a viral infection and has not fully recovered.
England sealed their qualification for next summer’s tournament against Montenegro on Thursday night.
However, England’s 1,000th international was overshadowed by the boos that greeted Gomez when he came on as a second-half substitute.
Gomez was left with a scratch on his face following a confrontation with Raheem Sterling this week at
St George’s Park. The Manchester City star was dropped from the squad to face Montenegro.
Gareth Southgate hopes Gomez will soon be back to form.
“You could not make it up if you tried – he is absolutely fine,” the England manager said.
“We scanned his knee and I think he will be fine in a couple of days, but he was not able to train today.
“Now was a good moment for him to go home for a couple of days and clear his head.
“The pleasing thing for me was we got him back on the pitch. The fact Raheem put out the tweet he did was the real closer on that whole incident, and we will get Raheem back on the pitch tomorrow.
“We won the match on Thursday and we can now just look forward.”
Former Scotland defender Dominic Matteo is being treated in hospital after having surgery on a brain tumour, his former club Liverpool have said.
The 45-year-old underwent an operation on Monday and is currently being treated after coming out of intensive care, the European champions added in a statement.
Matteo started his career with Liverpool, making 155 appearances, before moving to Leeds where became a fan favourite after scoring the goal against AC Milan which earned United a place in the Champions League knockout stages in 2000/01.
“The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Dom, his family and friends and we will be offering our support to them throughout this difficult time,” Liverpool said.
“We wish Dom a full and speedy recovery and will offer any support we can to his wife and family.
Matteo won six Scotland caps in his career, which ended with spells at Blackburn and Stoke.
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