Covid cases deny Thomas chance of making England U21 debut

LEICESTER City left-back Luke Thomas has been denied a chance to make his England under-21 debut this week following the emergence of positive Covid-19 cases in the Young Lions camp.

Thomas and the rest of the squad were due to travel to Romania for a friendly match today, but two positive Covid cases have seen the trip cancelled.

Called up to the under-21 squad for the first time, Thomas has already played for the under-18s, under-19s, and under-20s in recent years.

It is not known who among the playing squad and coaching staff has contracted Covid, but they are isolating from the rest of the group at St George’s Park.

Preparations will now turn to the 2023 European Championships qualifier against Kosovo in Milton Keynes on Tuesday.

Thomas could still make his debut then, but if not, he should be learning plenty away with the group as England’s most-capped leftback, Ashley Cole, is the new assistant manager for the under-21s, working alongside Lee Carsley who was promoted to the manager’s role in the summer.

City will hope Thomas is unaffected by the positive Covid cases because they are already short of defenders, with Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand, and James Justin all missing the win over Norwich, and with Ricardo Pereira substituted with a hamstring issue.

Elsewhere on the international front, City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel played 90 minutes as Denmark kept up their perfect record in World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 win over Scotland on Wednesday night.

Danny Ward also kept a clean sheet, playing as captain for the first 45 minutes of Wales’ friendly with Finland, which ended in a goalless draw.