England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed Bukayo Saka is unable to train on consecutive days and is yet to fully recover from the Achilles injury he sustained in March after “playing through the pain” at Arsenal.Saka, who Tuchel stressed is still at a “high level” despite not yet being at 100 per cent, trained on Tuesday and is available for selection for Wednesday’s final warm-up match against Costa Rica in Orlando, but did not train on Monday.And Tuchel, who has been monitoring the 24-year-old’s fitness closely, has stressed the importance of carefully planning the winger’s workload throughout the World Cup as he continues his recovery.“Bukayo is still getting there, playing through discomfort at the end of the season, but obviously managing it and playing at a high level, but still not at 100 per cent,” Tuchel said. “He is the one we are building and taking care of in training.“Some things are missing: consecutive training. They (Arsenal) took very good care of him and were very aware of it at Arsenal, and we will do a little bit the same.“So, step by step, he is at the moment not able to do every training session through the week and then play. He is still going to be managed. The player and his needs and health are always first. Yesterday (Monday), he was not with us; today (Tuesday) he was and did the full training session.“He is available for tomorrow, but he needs management to be fully, fully 100 per cent, which he is not. But he is on a high level.”Saka missed Arsenal’s games against Manchester City and Bournemouth in April, having withdrawn from the England squad in March, but played through the pain barrier in order to help the Premier League side seal their first title win in more than two decades.He also started Arsenal’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain on May 30, but was substituted in the 83rd minute and had to watch from the bench as his side lost on penalties after extra time.Asked if he needs to help boost Saka’s confidence, Tuchel said: “No, absolutely not. He was very decisive; they brought him back against Fulham when the season and title was on the line, and he was straight away decisive.“And then they decided together, Bukayo and Arsenal, to let him play through his pain and discomfort, even if it was not possible to train the whole week in the build-ups.“He was decisive in the second leg against Atletico to bring them to the final; he played the final. But like I said, he was managed in between, and this is what we do.”Tuchel also revealed that fellow Arsenal players Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, who joined the squad on June 6, are all at “100 per cent” in terms of fitness.England arrived in Florida for a pre-World Cup camp on June 1 and beat New Zealand 1-0 in their first of two warm-up matches on June 6.After Wednesday’s Costa Rica friendly, they will then play a behind-closed-doors friendly against Miami FC before departing for Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday, where they will be based during the tournament.Their first game is against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
England’s Bukayo Saka ‘not 100 per cent’ after Achilles injury, Thomas Tuchel says
The manager said the winger "played through the pain" at Arsenal and is unable to train on consecutive days.











