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Midfielder Alli missed yesterday’s training session and travelled to a private hospital in St Petersburg to be checked.
The England players have been given today off but Alli may not be able to train tomorrow, which would leave him in a race against time to face Panama.
Even if he is passed fit later in the week, manager Gareth Southgate could still opt to rest Alli on Sunday rather than taking any risks over his fitness, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabian Delph competing to replace him.
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| Dele Alli picked up a strain during the win over Tunisia |
Dele Alli is a doubt for England’s second World Cup Group G game against Panama after a scan confirmed he suffered a minor strain in the victory over Tunisia.
Midfielder Alli missed yesterday’s training session and travelled to a private hospital in St Petersburg to be checked.
The England players have been given today off but Alli may not be able to train tomorrow, which would leave him in a race against time to face Panama.
Even if he is passed fit later in the week, manager Gareth Southgate could still opt to rest Alli on Sunday rather than taking any risks over his fitness, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabian Delph competing to replace him.
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Alli suffered the injury in the first half of the victory over
Tunisia, but opted to stay on until the 80th minute, when he was
replaced by Loftus-Cheek.
Southgate is also facing a huge dilemma over Raheem Sterling as he starts preparations for England’s next match.
Sterling missed an early chance in the victory over Tunisia and was
later replaced by Marcus Rashford, who helped England to clinch their
stoppage-time winner.
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| Raheem Sterling (left) is replaced by Marcus Rashford during Monday night's match |
World Now Trend understands Southgate had already been considering replacing Sterling with Rashford for Sunday’s game against Panama as part of his squad rotation through the tournament.
But the manager must now decide whether to stick to that plan and
risk damaging Sterling’s confidence, or change his idea to give the
Manchester City forward another chance.
Sterling’s confidence was an issue for Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016, with
the player describing himself as “the hated one”.
Southgate and his
squad have worked hard to protect him, following pre-World Cup criticism over the 23-year-old’s gun tattoo.
Marcus
Rashford has only three England goals, but scored with a superb strike
in the final warm-up game against Costa Rica to put pressure on
Sterling.
Asked about being a substitute on Monday, Rashford said: “You need the squad to win the tournament and that’s what we’re here trying to do, so it’s not the be all and end all if you’re on the bench for one game.
“We understand that it is going to have to be a team effort if we want to bring the trophy home.”
Asked about being a substitute on Monday, Rashford said: “You need the squad to win the tournament and that’s what we’re here trying to do, so it’s not the be all and end all if you’re on the bench for one game.
“We understand that it is going to have to be a team effort if we want to bring the trophy home.”