Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka injury worries mount after England update for Finland game
Bukayo Saka picked up an apparent hamstring injury during England's 2-1 defeat by Greece on Thursday and has now left the squad to return to Arsenal for further assessment
by Felix Keith · The MirrorBukayo Saka will not travel with England to play Finland in Helsinki on Sunday after picking up an injury in the defeat by Greece.
Saka was substituted in the 52nd minute of the 2-1 loss at Wembley on Thursday night. He appeared to pull his right hamstring while attempting to put in a cross and looked dejected as he sat on the turf and waited for the medical staff to come on.
The Arsenal star was seen walking gingerly as he left the stadium and Lee Carsley confirmed he would undergo a scan. “He’s being assessed,” he said in his post-match press conference. “Obviously, in the build-up to the first goal, you could see he felt something in his leg.”
His injury compounded a miserable night for England and Carsley as two goals from Vangelis Pavlidis condemned an experimental line-up to defeat. The Three Lions have now confirmed that Saka will return to Arsenal for further assessment, rather than travel to the Finish capital for Sunday’s 5pm kick-off in the Nations League.
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has also returned home from St George’s Park on Saturday for personal reasons. Jones was only called up this week as a replacement for Manchester United ’s Kobbie Mainoo, who withdrew from the squad alongside Ezri Konsa and Morgan Gibbs-White due to injury.
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal supporters will be holding their breath for Saka, who has been a key player for the Gunners this season. The right-winger has three goals and seven assists in 10 matches for Arsenal and has taken on an enhanced leadership role.
He is now a major doubt for their next Premier League match, away to Bournemouth on Saturday evening. Saka was instrumental to Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Southampton last weekend, setting up Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli to score before finding the net himself.
After the game, Arteta was asked whether he was ever tempted to rest the 23-year-old, who has started every match so far this season. “Yeah, there is and we have taken him off a couple of times this season,” he replied. “And we have to manage the load of him, but at the moment he’s in a good place.”
Carsley has conceded that England won’t continue their experimental approach against Finland, knowing they need a result to get back on track in the Nations League. “Probably won’t try that again on Sunday, I have coached enough to know we need to do something different. Had Harry [Kane] been fit I might have gone down another route,” he said.
"We are going to assess Harry, he is training on Friday with us. He has scored a lot of goals. I’ve done three games and he has scored two goals so he is a massive part of what we do. Of course, I was confident going into the game and I am frustrated and disappointed it’s not worked but it is on to the next game.”
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