Man City star leaves England squad after injury setback | OneFootball

England defender Nico O’Reilly has departed the national squad and returned to Manchester City after picking up an injury during international duty.

The full-back completed 90 minutes in England’s Nations League opener but made a crucial error for Spain’s second goal as the Three Lions fell to a 3-2 defeat.

O’Reilly then missed England’s 2-0 midweek win over Czechia after suffering an injury in training.

Ahead of England's third match against Croatia on Saturday, the player has gone back to his club for "further assessment".

The Football Association confirmed that no replacements will be added to the squad for the fixture in Rijeka or next Tuesday’s meeting with Czechia at Wembley.

A Football Association statement read: "Nico O’Reilly has returned to Manchester City and will play no part in the forthcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures.

Lewis Hall looks set to be handed another chance to impress (Getty)

"No further replacements are planned as the Three Lions prepare to face Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday before returning to Wembley to take on Czechia on Tuesday."

O’Reilly’s injury presents Newcastle defender Lewis Hall with another chance to showcase his abilities at left-back.

Hall completed 90 minutes in Prague on Tuesday and appears poised to feature again in Saturday’s behind-closed-doors fixture.

It was confirmed back in February that there will be no fans at Saturday’s game after Croatia was ordered to serve a two-game punishment stemming from crowd trouble last year.

Croatia was hit with a substantial fine and ordered to play their subsequent home game behind closed doors, alongside their next away match without travelling fans. These sanctions followed incidents during their Nations League quarter-final against France last May.

The federation stated: "It should be noted that due to the inappropriate behavior of some Croatian fans in the quarter-final matches of last year’s edition of the Nations League against France, Croatia will play its first away game, i.e. the one against the Czech Republic on September 26, without the presence of Croatian fans, and play its first home game without an audience, i.e. the one against England on October 3."

This marks the second occasion England fans have faced such restrictions for an away trip to Croatia.

In October 2018, supporters were prohibited from travelling to a Nations League match in Rijeka due to similar sanctions against the hosts, though hundreds still made the journey, attempting to watch from a hill overlooking the stadium.