England have been dealt a blow after it was confirmed that Bukayo Saka is still yet to join up with the Three Lions training camp due to an ongoing injury problem.
The 19-year-old winger came off at half time during Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham in the North London Derby.
Speaking after the match Mikel Arteta confirmed the reason he had been forced off in the match was a result of a hamstring problem.
“We don’t know. He was feeling his hamstring, so we will monitor that,” he said.
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The injury forced him to be left out of the squad entirely for the Gunners’ Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Olympiacos last Thursday.
However, after responding positively to treatment Saka was deemed fit enough to start the 3-3 draw with West Ham on Sunday where he played 74 minutes before being replaced by Nicolas Pepe.
Now though it seems that he is not quite fully fit after the FA confirmed that Saka still hasn’t joined up with Gareth Southgate‘s England squad at St. George’s Park due to the injury.
“The #ThreeLions are out at training, with 24 players involved,” they said in a tweet.
“Marcus Rashford sits out to continue his rehabilitation, while Bukayo Saka is still with his club for further assessment on an on-going issue but it is hoped he will join up with the squad later this week.”
It is understood that this is not a recurrence of the same hamstring problem that forced the 19-year-old off against Spurs and that both Arsenal and England are cooperating smoothly to manage the situation.
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The injury will keep him out of the Three Lions’ opening World Cup qualifier against San Marino on Thursday night, but it is still hoped that Saka will be available for the games against Albania and Poland later in the international break.
The news will come as something of a blow for Gareth Southgate who is already without Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho due to injury.
He would have been hoping to use Saka as a winger for the first time after registering him as a forward in his squad, having fielded the versatile youngster at left wing back in his previous four England appearances.