Arsenal player left out by England vs Andorra over fitness concerns | OneFootball

Bukayo Saka won’t be in the England squad for Saturday night’s match against Andorra, with the winger seemingly absent due to fitness concerns.

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Sami Mokbel broke the news for the BBC on Saturday morning that Bukayo Saka wouldn’t be in the England squad for the match against Andorra that evening.

There are always a few players left out for each game, with England calling up 26 players but only having space for 23 in each individual match. Conor Gallagher and Ollie Watkins are the other two to miss out, with Watkins returning home with an injury.

Mokbel wrote that Saka’s omission was likely also linked to fitness, with the Arsenal player only managing one full training session this week. Club teammates Myles Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice will both be involved for the Andorra match.

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“[Saka] came into camp with a little bit of discomfort from the last match against Southampton, so we took care of him and treated him individually until today basically,” Tuchel said on Friday.

“It was the first training session that he started and finished with the group. Yesterday, he started with the group but did not finish with the group, so let’s see.

“I’m not sure if we take the risk for tomorrow’s game. The decision has not been taken, but he will be available for the Senegal match.”

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Given Tuchel’s expectation that Saka will be back involved for the Senegal friendly on Tuesday, it doesn’t sound like the injury problem is too serious. But it’s clearly enough to prevent him playing a significant part in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Andorra.

Arsenal fans would probably prefer to hear that Saka was receiving a full rest, beginning his summer holiday early. An injury setback in the final friendly match would be hugely frustrating.

But it’s not like Saka to make himself unavailable for international duty, so we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed he comes through this final week of the season unscathed.