UEFA Nations League

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Nations League | League A

Jun 11, 2022 at 7.45pm UK

Wembley Stadium

England
0 - 0
Italy

Grealish (29'), Ward-Prowse (81')

Locatelli (25'), Gatti (48'), Tonali (90+3')

Gareth Southgate provides Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips update ahead of Italy game

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter

Published: June 10 2022 | 15:39

Last updated: June 11 2022 | 00:00

Southgate provides Foden, Phillips update ahead of Italy game

England manager Gareth Southgate admits that Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips are both doubts for Saturday's UEFA Nations League clash with Italy.

England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips are both doubtful for Saturday's UEFA Nations League showdown with Italy at Molineux.

Manchester City's Foden - who was recently voted the PFA Young Player of the Year - has not been involved at all for the Three Lions this month after contracting COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Leeds United midfielder Phillips was involved in a heavy collision with Germany's Nico Schlotterbeck on Tuesday night and had to be taken off early with what was described as a "severe dead leg".

Southgate has now admitted that Foden's participation is still up in the air despite his return to training, while Phillips is not back out with the team but has not been ruled out of the clash or the final fixture of the month against Hungary next week.

"We're still assessing both. Phil joined in with the training this morning so he's progressing, not quickly I'd have to say so there's still some doubt as to whether he can be involved in either game," Southgate told reporters at his pre-match press conference.

Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips applauds fans after the match on April 9, 2022 © Reuters

"He obviously wants to do it so we're going to keep monitoring him. Kalvin didn't train with the group so he'd be doubtful for tomorrow, but we'll see in the morning."

Saturday's repeat of the Euro 2020 final will mark England's third Nations League match in the space of a week, with players also coming in off the back of gruelling seasons at club level.

Southgate has hinted that alterations will therefore be made this weekend, adding: "There's nobody else we can't use, we've got to think about some things we want to see and the freshness of the team as well.

"This is a good game for some of the other players to come into it - it's a top level game. I think it's a good sign to trust the players going into all of these games. If we only give players certain matches we don't find out enough about them.

"For us it's always a balance of winning matches and trying to find out about the players and giving them good experiences. We could get 90 minutes out of any of the squad - whether we do that is another matter. The recovery is a little different but all the players are in good physical condition."

England manager Gareth Southgate pictured in June 2022 © Reuters

England will be forced to step out onto the Molineux turf behind closed doors this weekend due to the crowd chaos at the Euro 2020 final, although 3,000 children will be permitted to attend the match.

When asked if the situation can be described as an "embarrassment" for English football, Southgate replied: "If it's an embarrassment it's for England as a country.

"A lot of the people that caused the problems, I'm not certain they were football fans. I think we've spoken enough about it, we spoke about it after the final, we spoke about it when the punishment was first given.

"The vast majority of our fans who travelled to Germany behaved brilliantly so credit to them. Maybe people were expecting something different."

England currently sit at the bottom of the rankings in League A Group 3 with one point, while Italy lead the way after taking four points from their opening two fixtures.