Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire have joined Gareth Southgate’s team early, hoping to show their health for this summer’s European Championship.
With the June 16th group opener against Serbia looming, the Euro 2020 runners-up met in County Durham on Wednesday to begin their pre-tournament training camp.
Shaw and Maguire have arrived at England’s training facility at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park, where only six of Southgate’s long list were missing.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham is ready for the Champions League final against previous team Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening.
Southgate announced that he will not participate in any of the upcoming friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland, but players who competed in last Saturday’s all-Manchester FA Cup final may feature in the second encounter.
Defeated City players John Stones, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and Jack Grealish, as well as 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo, who scored in United’s 2-1 victory, are yet to join the squad.
Southgate stated during last Tuesday’s squad unveiling that he has never had to deal with as many issues as he has while picking this England side.
Fitness issues are chief among those headaches, with Euro 2020 final goalscorer Shaw recently experiencing a setback as he attempts to recover from a muscular ailment that has kept him out since mid-February.
Southgate conceded the left-back is a “long shot,” and doubts remain over Manchester United teammate Maguire, who has been sidelined for a month with a muscle injury of his own.
“Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire had injuries at the end of the season with United, so they required a little more work with our medical team,” Southgate told England’s YouTube account.
“But I think they’re both really devoted to getting ready for the event, and they understand that every day is essential.
“We now have a clear picture of where they are, which is critical at this point in the season.
“We get information from the clubs, but until you see the players in front of you, medics get their hands on them, and we can see them on grass, then you have a much clearer picture.”
England will face Bosnia on Monday at St James’ Park before hosting Iceland at Wembley Stadium the following Friday.
Southgate must submit his final 26-man roster to UEFA just hours after the kick-off match, with the squad flying to Germany on June 10.
When asked how difficult it would be to pare down his 33-man training team, Southgate replied, “Extremely difficult.”
“It was definitely difficult to leave guys out of this 33, and there are some younger players who are arriving with slightly different expectations, possibly into this camp.
“But there will be some difficult decisions to make.
“We’re hoping that not too many of those calls are decided by injury and we’ve got the strongest possible squad to pick from.”