England star Jordan Henderson is back in full training with the national squad, easing fears around his fitness just six days out from the start of Euro 2020.
Henderson has had a long-term groin injury which saw him miss out on England’s warm-up match against Austria on Wednesday.
The match, which Gareth Southgate’s team won 1-0, was supposed to be the Liverpool captain’s first game back since he undergoing surgery in February.
However, he complained about discomfort during the morning and therefore wasn’t included in the squad- instead watching on from the stands at the Riverside Stadium.
Henderson is now expected to feature in England’s second and last warm-up match against Romania on Sunday.
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Henderson being back in full training will ease the stress of manager Southgate who named Henderson in his 26-man squad despite his injury.
The Liverpool captain is one of Southgate’s key lieutenants in the Three Lions dressing room, part of the senior squad’s leadership team.
Another member of that team is Harry Maguire, who is coming back from an ankle injury and is increasingly unlikely to feature in the opening game next weekend.
Southgate has already been forced to make a change to his squad after Trent Alexander-Arnold sustained a thigh injury against Austria.
The Liverpool star’s replacement has not yet been announced and it is expected to be revealed after the Romania game.
Jesse Lingard and James Ward-Prowse are the two candidates most likely to get the call.
Neither Harry Kane nor Bukayo Saka trained fully on Saturday, as both followed ‘a personal training programme indoors to manage load’.
Jack Grealish is similarly being carefully managed, as he nurses a long-standing shin complaint.
(Image: The FA via Getty Images)
Southgate has been quizzed over why he chose to include players who were nursing injuries.
He said: “I’ve picked up a squad that can cope without them. If we had 23, that might have been a different decision to make. We’ve got 26.
“So, rather than take maybe a couple of young players for the experience, for me it’s better to have two senior players who can add so much to the group, and if we can get them in a position to help on the field, then that’s only going to be beneficial for us.”
And while Henderson has returned to training, Southgate is still on the fence about his inclusion in their first group stage match against Croatia on June 13.
The manager added: “I don’t think it would be fair to rule him out of it.
“But I think it’s clear to everyone how much football he has missed.
“The timelines are getting more difficult with each training session he might miss and to not have those match minutes tonight is a blow towards that.”
