Defender again out of England squad due to injury
‘I’m a fan of John but he needs to be available’ says Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel has thrown John Stones’s hopes of going to the World Cup into doubt after the defender’s latest injury setback forced him to pull out of England’s qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.
Stones is one of the squad’s leading figures but he has been held back by a series of fitness issues during the past 18 months and has not featured at international level since last October. It is frustrating state of affairs for Tuchel, who hoped to start the Manchester City centre-back when England host Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday. Stones has been a regular at recent tournaments but he is yet to play for Tuchel, who made it clear that the 31-year-old will only remain an important part of his plans ahead of next summer’s World Cup if he stays fit.
“I’m a big fan of John, his personality and his quality” England’s head coach told BBC 5Live. “He could be an important figure, of course, but he needs to be available. He wants to be available and he’s a top professional, so he is the most upset in all this because he does really everything to be fit and struggles then with these minor issues from time to time that cost him game time.
