March 25, (THEWILL)- Gareth Southgate’s England squad has been depleted by injuries to three key players ahead of their friendly against Belgium. Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, Manchester City’s Kyle Walker and Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone, have all withdrawn from the national team camp due to respective injury concerns.
Walker was substituted just 20 minutes into Saturday’s friendly defeat to Brazil at Wembley Stadium. After the match, Southgate confirmed the right-back would undergo assessments in the coming days, and he has now returned to Manchester City for evaluation.
Veteran defender, Maguire, also came off in the 67th minute against Brazil, having recently recovered from an earlier injury setback. With Maguire and Walker ruled out, as well as Johnstone’s absence, Southgate has called up Rico Lewis and James Trafford from the under-21 squad.
Lewis made his senior debut in November against North Macedonia, while Trafford could earn his first cap when England face Belgium at Wembley on Tuesday. Trafford has endured a difficult club season at Burnley, being dropped recently, but has consistently impressed at youth level for England over the years.
The injuries compound Southgate’s selection woes, as he was already without star forwards Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka for the Brazil friendly due to fitness issues.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
