Phil McNulty on England injuries

BBC Sport’s chief football writer Phil McNulty answers your questions as Premier League players go on international duty

Harry asked: What do you think of players who left the England squad due to ‘injury’, but are suddenly fully fit to play as soon as club football returns? Was this happening 5, 10, 15 years ago?

Phil replied: Players dropping out of England squads has been a thing for as long as I can remember and there was always a lot of noise about whether injuries were real or not; often by rival club fans who feel others are putting their club allegiances ahead of national football. interests of the party.

I firmly believe that most of the injuries are real and I don’t think there can be any doubt that these players were injured this weekend.

Trent Alexander-Arnold had to leave the game with a hamstring injury in the 25th minute of Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa, while Arsenal duo Declan Rice or Bukayo Saka were unlikely to leave the game early against Chelsea unless there was absolutely no way they could continue. It was not possible. . Rice was already playing with a broken toe, while the Gunners are waiting to discover the extent of Saka’s injury.

Jack Grealish’s situation was interesting. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola clearly did not believe he was fit enough to feature in England after missing club matches through injury, but Lee Carsley singled him out.