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Trent Alexander-Arnold withdraws from England squad with back injury
Trent Alexander-Arnold has pulled out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro.
The Liverpool right-back has been suffering with a back injury since the March 10 victory over Burnley, in which he was taken off in the 86th minute.
Alexander-Arnold has since played against Bayern Munich and Fulham, but was feeling his back problem when he reported for England duty on Monday.
Despite being desperate to give himself every chance of playing in at least one of the games, Alexander-Arnold has been forced to withdraw.
An FA statement said: “Trent Alexander-Arnold has withdrawn from the England squad and returned to Liverpool.
“The right-back arrived nursing a back injury and, despite progress in recent days, it was unlikely he would be able to play a role in the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers.
“The 20-year-old will now continue his rehabilitation at his club leaving Gareth Southgate with a 22-man squad.”
Southgate, who is said to be understanding of the situation, will now pick between Manchester City’s Kyle Walker and Tottenham Hotspur’s Kieran Trippier for Friday night’s game against Czech Republic at Wembley and Monday’s trip to Montenegro.
Having originally picked six full-backs in his squad, Southgate has now lost left-back Luke Shaw and right-back Alexander-Arnold.
Walker believes the competition for the right-back place is good, saying: “I feel that whether it’s me or Trippier, we are going to push each other. It’s good for English football that we have so many right backs coming through.
“I’ve played with Tripps for the last four years going back to Tottenham. We even go back playing for the England U19s, so we’ve been playing together and fighting for a position for a long time. We are supportive of each other. Whoever gets the shirt, I’ll be more than happy for.
“With Man City, over the last couple of years, I’ve been playing reasonably well. The results take care of themselves, but, on a personal level, I feel I’ve been doing well. And when I’ve been called upon for England whether at right back of right centre back, I’ve tried to apply myself as I would in any game.”