England have suffered a setback ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifying fixtures, with defender John Stones withdrawing from the squad due to injury.
Manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed that the 31-year-old Manchester City centre-back arrived at the national team’s training camp carrying a muscular problem which has failed to improve.
“He came with minor issues and didn’t progress as we thought and hoped he would, so he left camp this morning,” Tuchel told reporters. “Everyone else is available. We had 21 players yesterday in training and 21 players today in training and hopefully make sure everyone is available for tomorrow.”
Stones, who has featured in all three of Manchester City’s Premier League games this season, will now miss England’s matches against Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday and the trip to face Serbia on Tuesday.
His absence leaves Tuchel with Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, and Jarell Quansah as the central defensive options for the two fixtures.
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