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Jadon Sancho and Tammy Abraham are set to be available for England‘s Nations League clash with Belgium on Sunday pending negative coronavirus tests but Ben Chilwell is likely to be ruled out, according to manager Gareth Southgate.
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The trio missed Thursday night’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley after breaching COVID-19 government guidelines by attending a party with around 20 people last weekend to mark Abraham’s 23rd birthday.
Southgate subsequently prevented them from joining up with the rest of the 30-man squad at St George’s Park on Monday as the Football Association gathered information on the incident. UEFA regulations require players to test negatively 48 hours before a fixture to be able to play.
And Southgate provided an update on the situation shortly after Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Conor Coady and Danny Ings all scored their first senior international goals to hand England a routine win.
“Tammy and Jadon have trained independently, so with us but in isolation, this afternoon,” said Southgate.
“All three players have tested negatively. Ben has had some illness which we think is minor but as a precaution we have kept him separate from the group at the moment.
“There’s probably a strong chance he won’t be with us for UEFA testing in the morning which would rule him out of Sunday but we would expect Tammy and Jadon to be available for that.”
Southgate is thought to have taken a dim view of the incident, especially as it comes less than a month after Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood were sent home from the previous England camp in disgrace having breached coronavirus rules to meet two Icelandic women outside the team hotel bubble in Reykjavik hours after making their debuts.
The entire group was given a reminder of their responsibilities upon arrival at St George’s Park at the start of a camp in which Belgium’s arrival stands out as a potentially defining moment in England’s Nations League campaign.
Southgate’s side are already two points behind Belgium in League A Group 2 with only the top side in each group assured of qualification for the semi-finals. England also face Denmark in the thirs consecutive match at Wembley next Wednesday.