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England are preparing to take on Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024 (Image: GETTY)
England trained without key trio Declan Rice, Phil Foden and Kieran Trippier today (Thursday) ahead of their Euro 2024 last-16 showdown with Slovakia on Sunday. The Three Lions underwhelmed during the group stages of the tournament but finished top of Group C after winning one game and drawing their other two.
England were ranked as the pre-tournament favourites in Germany and impressed during the first half an hour of their 1-0 victory over Serbia in their opening game.
But they failed to ignite during their 1-1 draw with Denmark and their 0-0 stalemate against Slovenia. And they will need to improve if they are to go all the way for the first time in their history.
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England duo Phil Foden (left) and Kieran Trippier won't train with the group on Thursday (Image: GETTY)
England boss Gareth Southgate has been boosted by the return of Luke Shaw, who has reportedly deemed himself fit to feature against Slovakia after being ruled out of the first three games.
But Rice and Trippier are following their own individual programmes and were not be involved in today’s group training session. Foden, meanwhile, has temporarily returned to England for the birth of his third child.
“Phil Foden has temporarily left the England camp and returned to the UK for a pressing family matter,” the FA said in a statement on Wednesday. But the Three Lions are hoping the Manchester winger will return to Germany in time for Sunday’s encounter.
Read more... BBC and ITV’s method for picking Euro 2024 games - including big ‘gamble’
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Rice has been one of England’s better players in Germany and played the full 90 minutes in all three of the group games. Trippier has missed just six minutes of action after being selected by Southgate to fill in at left-back in Shaw’s absence, while Foden has been substituted in the last two matches.
England have been heavily criticised for their displays in Germany, with Southgate insisting he was ignoring the detractors ahead of Tuesday’s stalemate with Slovenia.
And the England boss sent a message to fans who booed him and threw plastic cups at him following the match as he avowed: “I won't be backing away from anything. The fans were brilliant with the team in the second half. Absolutely brilliant. That’s so important.
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“Whatever the feeling is towards me, you've got to get behind the team. That's crucial. I'm not going to change that (the feelings people have), so it's pointless me spending energy [on it].
“But I'm also not going to back away from it. My job is to guide the players and help the players through it. I've got to show my players the fearlessness we are asking of them on the pitch.
“So I will continue to do that. We are playing for big stakes, we are trying to do something that has never been done before. So we have to have a mentality that we are prepared to walk towards those challenges.”
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