05 October 2023 , 15:27
1097
0
England boss Gareth Southgate insists Bukayo Saka will continue to be 'monitored' after he included the Arsenal star in his squad despite concerns over his fitness.
The Three Lions take on Australia and Italy next week and Saka is part of a 26-man squad, despite hobbling off during Arsenal's Champions League defeat to Lens on Tuesday. He is now a huge doubt for the clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
Saka was taken off in the two matches prior to the Lens defeat as Arsenal attempted to manage his workload and the Gunners are taking it day by day ahead of the top-of-the-table encounter.
The player's involvement Sunday's game at the Emirates could prove crucial in whether or not he features for the Three Lions. Southgate appeared optimistic regarding the time frame available for Saka, although Arsenal will be desperate to avoid him returning in worse shape than he left.
Southgate said: "He's still being assessed as they've obviously got a big game this weekend and then there's another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy so everybody will monitor everything as we go forward."
Mikel Arteta's dream Arsenal line up as last-gasp January transfers are secured
Despite the concerns around the player's fitness, Arteta maintains he has no regrets over playing him in the game in France earlier this week. He said: “It was a knock that he picked up the other day, and he was perfectly fine. It wasn’t an action [injury], it was a backheel that can produce this type of injury. Let’s see what the extent of it is, and afterwards, it was too late as well.
Bukayo Saka picked up an injury issue in midweek ((Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))“[Saka’s other worries] were more knocks than any other thing. The last few that he had, he hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford in the Carabao Cup, and that was all.”
Even if Saka is unavailable for the two matches Southgate still has some stellar names he can call upon in the final third. Ollie Watkins has been recalled after his impressive start to the season with Aston Villa while Jarrod Bowen has also been included.
Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish all retain their spots in the squad after the latest round of internationals which saw England win in Scotland after being held by Ukraine.