MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 09:18:35| >> :600:2559165:2559165:

Aidy Boothroyd to speak to England Under-21 players after coronavirus breach

Aidy Boothroyd to speak to England Under-21 players after coronavirus breach
© Reuters
Young duo Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood were sent home from the senior squad for breaching a strict bio-bubble.

Aidy Boothroyd was "surprised and disappointed" to learn of Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood's breach of coronavirus regulations while on England duty and will remind his Under-21 stars of their responsibilities as they prepare to face Austria on Tuesday.

After making their Three Lions debuts against Iceland at the weekend, the pair had to leave the England camp after breaching a strict bio-bubble in Reykjavik.

Allegations emerged in the Icelandic media on Monday that Manchester City's Foden and Greenwood of Manchester United had spent time with two girls during the trip.

And Young Lions boss Boothroyd, who has worked with the duo at Under-21 level, said he would be speaking to his players about the events before their match.

"I'm surprised and disappointed, I have to say," Boothroyd said. "I don't know the facts to be able to go into any great detail with you.

"Young people can be naive, but without knowing all the facts it would be difficult for me to go into any detail, particularly when (England boss) Gareth (Southgate) is in the same position."

When asked what he would be saying to his own squad, Boothroyd said: "We'll be having a conversation about it with the leadership team first and then with the rest of the lads by the end of this evening (Monday) because I think it's important that we do."

Boothroyd's Young Lions played their first match in 10 months last Tuesday and won in emphatic fashion with a 6-0 win over Kosovo in Pristina to move top of their qualifying group.

Next opponents Austria suffered a surprise home loss to Andorra in their first game since the resumption of the qualifiers, but Boothroyd is expecting a tough challenge.

"We've got a very difficult game coming up. Austria have had a difficult game, losing at home, and have got a lot of pressure on them from their media and it's important that we deal with any storm that comes and play our football the way that we've played," he said.

"I've been excited by some of the stuff that we've played and just want to make sure that we keep it going really and see if we can get a good result against the Austrians.

"It will then put us six clear with a game in hand, so that would be a really useful position to be in going into the games in October and November."

ID:413391: cacheID:413391:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3723:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Eric Dier warms up for Spurs on July 2, 2020
Read Next:
Eric Dier tips Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to "bring a lot" to Tottenham team
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!