Marcus Rashford sat out England’s first training session in Russia due to a knee complaint.
Preparations for the World Cup could scarcely have gone any better up until now, with Gareth Southgate’s initial 23-man selection remaining intact after beating Nigeria and Costa Rica.
Rashford shone in the latter and scored a superb opener in a man-of-the-match display, underlining his claims for a starting berth in Monday’s Group G opener against Tunisia.
However, the 20-year-old’s hopes received a setback after missing England’s first training session in Russia with a knee knock.
The Football Association indicated Rashford’s absence was only a precautionary measure, with Southgate calling it a “slight knock” upon touching down on Tuesday.
The remaining 22 members of England’s squad trained at Spartak Zelenogorsk’s stadium, where around 400 local children joined dignitaries in welcoming the team to the country.
Just 10 minutes down the road from England’s hotel in Repino, there was a large turnout from English and international media at the ticketed open training session.
Attendees underwent security checks at the entrance, with children given a Three Lions gift bag by volunteers.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here