Chelsea pair Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell will miss their country’s final group game after being deemed “close contacts” with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for coronavirus yesterday morning.
It’s bad enough that they will miss the game tomorrow, and it’s hard to see how England will qualify without Mount driving them forward, but there are now also doubts about whether they will be ready for a last 16 game.
Bad news for Mount, Chilwell and England. Struggle to see how Mount could play in a last-16 game for England even if on June 29, having done no team work for a week or any of the preparation for the game. Such a shame for the players
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) June 22, 2021
As Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph points out, they will not be able to train with the team for a week, or do any of the standard preparation that even an injured player can do in expectation of featuring.
That may well mean that Gareth Southgate has to do without them for that match too. In the case of Chilwell, there are solid replacements. But there’s nobody as good and as in form as Mount in this squad, and it could be an issue without him tomorrow, let alone in the knockouts.
