Gareth Southgate has confirmed Dele Alli will miss Sunday lunch times game against Panama with a thigh strain.
The midfielder came off in England’s opening World Cup match – a 2-1 win over Tunisia – and was subsequently rated doubtful for the Panama game in Nizhny Novgorod.
However Alli will not be risked with Southgate now officially confirming Alli will sit the game out after informing his players of the starting XI to play Panama.
Speaking on Saturday Southgate said: “This morning he followed the exact programme we had planned,
He started training with the rest of the group and then did some more running on his own, so he’s progressing really well.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will replace Alli, with Marcus Rashford or Raheem Sterling also expected to battle it out for a place in the starting line-up.
The England manager has also stressed the importance in keeping everyone in his squad happy, including those yet to get any game time in Russia.
“I think it’s huge. More than anything I think for the guys who aren’t in the team tomorrow [Sunday] or who haven’t been in the team for either game,” said Southgate.I’ve fulfilled that role and know how difficult it is.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
