Mason Mount has trained with the rest of the England squad since Wednesday; Bukayo Saka suffered 'slight knock' on Friday and is England's only injury concern ahead of Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine; England travel to Rome as favourites to progress to the last four
Saturday 3 July 2021 18:48, UK
Mason Mount is expected to return to England's starting line-up against Ukraine for Saturday's Euro 2020 quarter-final, but Bukayo Saka is an injury doubt after suffering a knock in training on Friday.
Mount was forced into precautionary isolation for over a week along with Ben Chilwell following close contact with club team-mate Billy Gilmour, who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 following the goalless Group D draw with Scotland at Wembley.
The pair were free from quarantine at midnight on Monday and having trained with the rest of the squad since Wednesday, Mount is in line to return to Gareth Southgate's side in Rome.
However, Saka, who started England's last two victories against the Czech Republic and Germany, faces a late fitness test ahead of Saturday's game.
"We've just got to check on Bukayo, who had a slight knock today (Friday)," said England boss Gareth Southgate.
"Other than that everybody is available."
Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane will all be in the starting line-up if Southgate picks his strongest team. Kieran Trippier has been troubled by a slight hamstring injury which needs to be managed.
Jadon Sancho could start his first game of the tournament if Saka is not fit to play, while Phil Foden could be restored to the right side of England's attack after losing his place for the final group game against the Czech Republic.
Foden and Jack Grealish have yet to feature together during the tournament but Southgate denied that was due to a clash of styles.
"Absolutely they can work together," he said. "They've played for us in the past together. We've just got such a strong array of attacking talent.
"I've said all along it's impossible to keep everyone happy, to pick a team everybody will agree with. But we've got to pick the right players for the right moments, to sense what will cause the opposition the most problems, physically where all the players are at, when is the best time for them to have an impact.
"They've all been unbelievably respectful of their team-mates and the fact we have got this strength in depth.
"Raheem (Sterling) has been on fire. His goals have made it more difficult for some others to get in on that left side."
Southgate wants to revert to playing with a back four against Ukraine but a decision regarding formation is more complicated than it was against Germany as England knew their opponents would be playing 3-4-3.
Ukraine's formation, however, is more unpredictable. They played 4-3-3 in their group games but switched to 3-5-2 for the knockout win against Sweden.
Southgate said it would be an "insult" to Ukraine to plan beyond Saturday's quarter-final by resting the four England players who are a booking away from missing a potential last-four date.
Harry Maguire, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice and Foden risk being suspended for a possible semi-final against Denmark or the Czech Republic at Wembley if they pick up a caution at Stadio Olimpico.
Bookings are wiped after the quarter-final stage and Roma manager Jose Mourinho said the quartet should be rested against Ukraine on Saturday to avoid any suspension for the semi-final.
But Southgate, who left Foden out of the squad for the final group stage game - a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic - to avoid a potential ban, said he had no intention of following suit against Ukraine.
"No. I don't really understand that rationale," he replied when asked if the four bookings would affect his team selection.
"I understand that strategically you might like to do that but I can't think of a country in the world that would do that for a quarter-final. And especially not a country that has only been to three semi-finals in its history.
"I think we've got to focus on tomorrow. I think it would be a big error for us to be thinking about anything else and I think it would be an insult to Ukraine as well."
Maguire does not agree with the UEFA regulations but insisted it would not prevent him from playing his normal game against Andriy Shevchenko's surprise quarter-finalists.
"First and foremost, two yellow cards in five games seems a bit steep for the punishment of missing a semi-final but that is the rules and that's what we have to deal with," he said.
"But for me, I'll just be going to the game as normal. Listen, you don't play in a quarter-final for your country often, we haven't reached that many times in the past.
"So the opportunity is there to go and perform and do everything I can to reach a semi-final and then we'll think about that when it comes.
"At the moment I am just fully focused on the quarter-final and that's what I'll be thinking about, I'll just be playing a normal game."
Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine need to play the game of their lives if they are to secure a historic win against England.
Versatile Manchester City player Zinchenko is the biggest name in the Ukrainian side and knows his team face an uphill battle against some familiar faces at the Stadio Olimpico.
"I will say that numbers speak for themselves," Zinchenko said of England. "The fact that England hasn't conceded any goals yet, they play very well in defence.
"But I think that there are no perfect teams. Every team has weaknesses."
England vice-captain Jordan Henderson says anyone underestimating quarter-final opponents Ukraine is "delusional".
England are overriding favourites having beaten rivals Germany 2-0 at Wembley in Tuesday's last-16 encounter, but Henderson is not taking anything for granted heading into the quarter-final.
"It was a fantastic performance but we haven't achieved anything yet and we've still got a long way to go," the 31-year-old said.
"Full focus on Ukraine. It'll be a really difficult test and anybody that says that it won't be are delusional, really.
"I know people say 'well, we beat Germany' but you can't underestimate the importance of this game and how hard good of a team Ukraine are and how hard it will be against them.
"We're fully prepared and fully aware of that. We just need to go out there and give absolutely everything again and hopefully that's enough to get us through."
After beating Germany, England are now favourites to go on and win Euro 2020. That was Jamie Carragher's verdict when he joined the Sky Sports Football Euros Podcast to reflect on England's historic win over their old rivals at Wembley. He explains why that win could propel Gareth Southgate's side to new heights and also assesses the key performers in the squad and how the manager may shake things up again for the quarter-final with Ukraine.
In part two of the show, Peter smith is joined by Sky Sports football writer Charlotte Marsh and Sky Sports data editor Adam Smith to examine the three other quarter-finals and work out who will go through from the ties involving Switzerland vs Spain, Belgium vs Italy, and Czech Republic vs Denmark.
Spain and Italy booked a semi-final date at Wembley with their wins over Switzerland and Belgium, respectively, on Friday night. Now it's over to Czech Republic, Denmark, Ukraine and England…
Kate Burlaga is joined by Sky Sports' Peter Smith, Adam Bate, and Nick Wright to analyse those first two quarter-finals, with the panel discussing the strengths - and vulnerabilities - of Spain and what makes Italy such an effective opposition.
Plus the guests look ahead to England's Saturday showdown with Ukraine in Rome, weighing up the team selection dilemmas Gareth Southgate has for the big game and where it will be won or lost.
