Emile Smith Rowe could well be set to join both Arsenal team-mates Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale in missing out for England this week.
The trio were all named in the Three Lions squad to take on Switzerland and the Ivory Coast during the international break, but Saka (Covid) and Ramsdale (muscle injury) have both been forced to withdraw from the squad.
That left just Smith Rowe and Ben White as our representatives in the squad, but the former has been unable to train with the squad so far this week, as reported by the Express, and is now expected to miss the upcoming clash against Granit Xhaka’s side tomorrow.
The midfielder has missed a number of matches of late with injury and Covid, and now appears to be set to miss the chance to impress manager Gareth Southgate also as he looks to try and cement his name into his plans for the World Cup in Qatar.
Competition for placed in behind Harry Kane are likely to be extremely high, with the likes of Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka amongst those vying for similar roles in the side, and Emile could really have done with the chance to impress Southgate.
He could still get the chance as he hasn’t been ruled out of either fixture just yet, but with little preparation with the squad you would imagine that the Swiss match would come to soon for him. Fingers crossed he will have proven his fitness in time to take on Nicolas Pepe’s Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
Patrick
