‘It’s not a good sign’ – Southgate concerned by TAA’s injury

Lewis Oldham
Southgate F365 Liverpool
Southgate Alexander-Arnold

England boss Gareth Southgate has insisted that the “last thing” he wanted was seeing Trent Alexander-Arnold or anyone else limp off injured against Austria.

The Three Lions were dominant in the first half, but chances were few and far between. The best of them fell to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane but they could not convert them.

England tolled away until they broke the deadlock in the 57th minute.


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Kane found Jesse Lingard, who touched it onto Jack Grealish in the penalty area. His effort was blocked by the defence but the ball fell nicely for Bukayo Saka who converted from close range.

There were worrying scenes at the end as Alexander-Arnold limped off in stoppage time. His injury was innocuous as no one was around the defender when he pulled up.

Southgate’s side have another pre-tournament friendly on Sunday as they face Romania. This is before their Euros campaign gets underway against Croatia on Sunday, June 13.

As cited by BBC Sport, Southgate said he will know more about Alexander-Arnold’s injury in “24-48” hours:

Southgate on TAA’s injury: “We’re going to have a look. It’s not good to see him come off in the way he did.

“We’ll have to assess him over the next 24 hours. I think thigh but the medical team are assessing him. We’ll have to see. It’s not a good sign to see him have to walk off as he did. We’ll know more in 24 to 48 hours.

“Let’s see how Trent is and then we’ll go from there.

“We don’t know the full extent. The last thing you want is to see him come off in the way he did.”

On the 1-0 win, he added: “I thought we started very well. We used the ball well in the first hour or so.

“We were playing against a very good side. They have good players. They get in between the lines well.

“The first hour was good in terms of quality. After that we needed to make a lot of changes and preserve people. We got a bid disjointed and people had cramp. We were hanging on at the end. It was understandable given the changes.

“Jack Grealish showed some lovely touches. You can see he’s still getting to full fitness – with the bursts you know he can make. He’s a quality player.”