Manchester City forward Jack Grealish is suffering with illness ahead of England’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and San Marino in the coming days.
Illness has already hit the England squad because West Ham’s Declan Rice withdrew from the group on Wednesday after feeling unwell. Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford also pulled out after he was ill and unable to train with his club at the end of last week.
Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse is another to have succumbed to illness.
The Times writes that Grealish reported feeling unwell to England staff only a few hours after Rice’s withdrawal. The 26-year-old will be monitored, although he had still trained as normal on Wednesday and it is said Gareth Southgate is ‘hopeful’ he will be fit and available.
England host Albania on Friday, before travelling to San Marino for their final qualifier. They only need four points from those two games to guarantee qualification for the 2022 World Cup, whatever second place Poland do, but would be expected to win both anyway.
Grealish has played a part in every England match so far this season, starting in bigger matches against Poland and Hungary and coming off the bench twice against Andorra. Any absence would be a blow for Southgate as Albania are the last real obstacle in England’s way.
Having started only once at Euro 2020, Grealish has cemented himself in the manager’s plans since a £100m British record summer transfer to Manchester City.
At club level, the former Aston Villa hero has been a regular starter for City, although he was surprisingly left out of the team for the Manchester derby last weekend.
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Source : 90min