Thomas Tuchel is confident of Declan Rice‘s ability to start England’s World Cup semi-final after he trained on the eve of their last-four clash with Argentina in a huge fitness boost.
England take on Lionel Messi and co in Atlanta on Wednesday seeking to seal a place in Sunday’s MetLife Stadium showpiece.
The Three Lions secured their place in the semi-finals with a narrow 2-1 extra-time victory against Norway in Miami, where the unusually ineffective Rice was withdrawn at half-time.
Tuchel revealed after the quarter-final that the Arsenal star had been bedbound for three days in the build-up to the tie having fallen unwell after the last-16 trip to Mexico.
Rice has also been dealing with nagging hamstring pain since Christmas but he trained with his team-mates at their Kansas City base before flying to Georgia on Tuesday.
However, Tuchel is confirmed that Rice is well in contention to start the seismic semi-final after making a successful recovery.
“Everyone is fit to start, except Jarell [Quansah] and Jordan [Henderson]. Declan [Rice] is ready to start and [had] as good a recovery as possible,” he said.
Fellow midfielder Jordan Henderson was the only member of the 26-man squad not to train on Tuesday having undergone arm surgery following his nasty fall in Mexico.
Versatile defender Jarell Quansah took part but his red card at the Estadio Azteca means he will sit out Wednesday’s semi-final as he completes a two-match ban.
Right-back Reece James is pushing to start having returned from a three-game absence with a hamstring issue as a second half substitute against Norway.
Additional reporting from PA
