England manager Gareth Southgate was without two of his integral cogs for Thursday's training session, three days before the Three Lions face Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024.
As Group C winners, the Three Lions avoided a potentially difficult tie in their opening knockout match and will instead clash with the Slovakians on Sunday at 5pm in Gelsenkirchen.
England amassed five points from nine games against Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia, but they could only manage draws against the former two and laboured to a 1-0 triumph over the latter.
The goalless stalemate versus Slovenia on Tuesday sparked an angry reaction from supporters in Cologne, who threw cups in the direction of head coach Southgate, but they are certainly on the friendlier side of the last-16 draw.
None of France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany or Spain will be blocking England's path to the final, although they could meet Italy in the quarter-finals before a semi-final showdown with the Netherlands.
England took to the training pitches on Thursday morning, but neither midfielder Declan Rice nor defender Kieran Trippier were with the team, as both followed individual programmes instead.
As a result, Southgate could only count upon 23 players for the group session, as Phil Foden - another man to start all three group games - has also returned to the UK for the birth of his third child.
What changes could Southgate make for Slovakia?
At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that Rice, Foden and Trippier will not be given the green light to face Slovakia, but the latter is known to be dealing with a calf issue and is seemingly the biggest doubt.
However, Luke Shaw is finally working consistently with the team again and could be an option to play on Sunday, but having not featured for four months, Southgate may have reservations about starting him.
With no other natural left-backs in the ranks, either Joe Gomez or Ezri Konsa would have to step in if Trippier is rested and Shaw is not risked; the decision to call up the Manchester United man has not paid off for Southgate so far.
The England boss has also faced calls to drop Jude Bellingham, who struggled to impact the draws with Denmark and Slovenia amid burnout fears, which could potentially lead to Foden being used in the number 10 role.
Such a switch would allow Anthony Gordon or Eberechi Eze to stake their claims for starts on the left wing; the former or Cole Palmer could also be used in a central position if Foden does not arrive back in time. body check tags ::
