England manager Gareth Southgate is hoping for a positive update on Bukayo Saka after selecting the Arsenal star despite fears over his fitness.
Having failed to finish the matches against Tottenham and Bournemouth, the 22-year-old again left the field early in Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Lens.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted afterwards that it “didn’t look good” for Saka, yet the forward was still named in Southgate’s 26-man squad two days later.
The England boss is awaiting news on the national team’s back-to-back men’s player of the year and has not given up on him being available for this month’s double-header against Australia and Italy.
“He’s still being assessed,” Southgate said of Saka, who faces a race to be involved for Arsenal against Manchester City on Sunday before attention turns to international matters.
“Obviously, they’ve got a big game this weekend and then there’s another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy as well.
“So, everybody will monitor everything as we go forward.”
England could wrap up their place at Euro 2024 this month, with the Wembley qualifier against Italy following their friendly under the arch against Australia.
Uncapped Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah got the nod along for the October fixtures, while Ollie Watkins received his first call-up since March 2022 and Jarrod Bowen returned for the first time since that September.
But there was no place for Mason Mount, James Ward-Prowse or Raheem Sterling, with the latter having not added to his 82 caps since the 2022 World Cup.
Asked if he spoke to Chelsea forward Sterling like he did last month, Southgate said; “No, we spoke before the last squad.
“As I said, we’ve been happy with the wide players and the performances in the last four games, in particular, and the two in March. The team are playing really well, so clearly there’s some stability there.
“We have added Jarrod Bowen in those wide areas – I mean, he scored five in seven games, he’s playing really well.
“With the Australia game as well, there’s an opportunity to learn some different things as well.”
On Watkins, who Southgate saw score a hat-trick for Aston Villa against Brighton at the weekend, he said: “There’s a little bit with Callum Wilson as well, so he’s carrying an injury.
“Not certain he’d be available. Ollie has started the season well. He’s hit a bit of scoring form in the last couple of weeks.
“You have to be careful with that because you can’t just go on recency bias when you’re looking at selection, but he is in good form.
“He’s obviously coming in on a high and he’s been with this before.
“We know his character, we know his personality. He’s a good guy around the around the group.
“Team are playing well, he’s playing for a club that are really well coached and the team are in a good moment.”
Ben Chilwell and Eberechi Eze join Wilson in missing this month’s matches through injury, while Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips retain their place despite questions over their spots.
John Stones returned having missed a September camp that ended with a 3-1 win in Scotland, who are vying with England for Elliot Anderson’s international future.
The 20-year-old left the last Scottish camp after two days following his first call-up to the full squad and last week indicated he wanted more time to consider his international future.
“I haven’t (spoken to him),” Southgate said of the Newcastle talent. “I mean those things (Football Association technical director) John McDermott deals with that, really.
“So, I think we’re the same as Steve. We’re respectful that those sorts of decisions are big decisions and we don’t want to pressure anybody.
“We like Elliot, we think he’s a very good player, got high potential.
“He’s obviously at a club that are absolutely flying, so, yeah, we’ll just have to wait and see.
“But we’re very much respectful that if he needs time to think that through we completely understand.”
Rangers 1-4 Lyon: Lacazette and Fofana at the double as Clement's men outclassed
Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored twice as Lyon outclassed Rangers 4-1 in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday.
Former Arsenal striker Lacazette scored twice before the break after Tom Lawrence had earlier cancelled out Fofana's opener in Glasgow, with the latter also netting again in the second half.
Vaclav Cerny was punished for woefully blazing over the bar when Fofana bent home on the rebound from the hugely impressive Rayan Cherki's shot after 10 minutes.
Lawrence quickly prodded home the equaliser when Cyriel Dessers was denied, but an awful error from Connor Barron led to Fofana laying on a simple finish for Lacazette.
The Frenchman then made it 3-1 with a whipped 25-yard stunner before the break and Fofana poked home Cherki's low cross at the back post to add more gloss shortly after the restart.
Duje Caleta-Car saw a header thunder off the crossbar and Corentin Tolisso had a shot cleared off the line, while substitute Said Benrahma was also denied as Lyon pushed to really emphasise their dominance of proceedings.
Data Debrief: Lyon forwards tormentors in chief
Rangers, who won impressively at Malmo on MD1, just had no answer for the dynamism of a Lyon side who are now two from two and second in the table.
Lacazette was playing his 50th game in the Europa League and scored his 23rd and 24th goals in the competition. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Aritz Aduriz (26) have scored more since his first appearance in September 2012.
Cherki set up both of Fofana's goals in an excellent display and has six goal involvements in only five Europa League starts (three goals, three assists), while Fofana scored and assisted in the same game for the first time for Lyon.
Rangers have a night to forget and this represented only the first time in the Europa League/UEFA Cup they have conceded four goals at home, and only the third time overall.
City striker 'Bunny' Shaw targets more success with hopes of inspiring young girls in Jamaica
Despite achieving much of what she set out to already, Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw intends to keep pushing the barriers and she hopes to inspire others to chase their dreams.
Shaw, who has overcome her fair share of obstacles and tragedies to get to where she is at, has been a role model for young athletes in Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly aspiring women’s football players, as she continues to impress on the international stage and in the Women's Super League (WSL) since her move to City in 2021.
The 27-year-old ended last season as the WSL’s top scorer, assisting the Gareth Taylor-coached side to the runners-up position behind champions Chelsea, merely on goal difference.
Her performances throughout that campaign, which was cut short by a broken leg, also saw her cop the PFA Women's Players' Player of the year and the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year awards.
"When I look back at my childhood, I didn’t really have a lot of people I could look to, apart from Usain Bolt, of course. I didn’t have a lot of people who I could look to and say, ‘I want to be like that.’ One of the main reasons was that I wasn’t really allowed to play," Shaw said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“Now, looking at where the game is and where it is going, I think there is more room for that. For me, it’s just being alive and being in the moment. It’s staying true to who I am. Hopefully, by doing that each and every day, it works out in the end,” she added.
Black History Month in England, celebrated throughout the month of October, continues to shine a spotlight on athletes who have broken barriers to achieve success.
With her accolades and accomplishments speaking for themselves, Shaw is aiming to continue setting the standard for others to follow.
"I just try to be the best I can be and hope that by doing that, there are others looking on [who can] see that if I can do it, then it’s possible. Hopefully I can inspire a lot of the young girls back home in Jamaica that it is definitely possible,” the two-time Ballon d'Or award nominee shared.
"It’s been a long journey for me. I had to travel around the world to get here. Now I am here, I’m just embracing the moment and loving every part of it. The ups and downs are parts of life and that’s how you grow as a person. But I just try to be the best that I can and hopefully inspire more girls,” Shaw noted.
Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Veiga and Dewsbury-Hall off the mark in Conference League cracker
Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each scored their first Chelsea goals in a cracking 4-2 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Enzo Maresca decided to make wholesale changes in the Blues' opening match of the league phase of Europe's third-tier competition, but they were still a class above their Belgian opponents.
Full-back Veiga headed Chelsea into a 12th-minute lead after Mykhailo Mudryk stood up a brilliant cross from the right and Dewsbury-Hall fired into the side-netting when he ought to have scored soon after.
Despite their domination of the ball, it took the Blues until the 46th minute to double their lead when Pedro Neto took hold of Axel Disasi's long punt and fired into the roof of the goal.
Some slack Chelsea defending was punished when Tsuyoshi Watanabe headed in from the cross of Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues great Eidur.
Christopher Nkunku rifled home from just inside the area after Gent failed to clear their lines just after the hour and Dewsbury-Hall shot straight through the goalkeeper after Nkunku was tackled attempting to take a shot – with Omri Gandelman celebrating a late consolation for the visitors.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall stakes his Chelsea claim
This was a great chance for a few Chelsea players to stake their claim for more regular Premier League minutes and Dewsbury-Hall put in an industrious performance to do his chances no harm.
Signed from Leicester City in the last transfer window, the centre midfielder had four shots in total, three of which were in the box, and scored from his one big chance. He also had an impressive 91.2% pass accuracy.
Neto too had a very lively outing, creating five chances in total and finishing with a pass accuracy rate of 97%.
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