Lee Carsley didn’t have many surprises when he announced the final squad of his spell as interim England manager.
The big names of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka are all there. Lille’s Angel Gomes will continue to make his case at the base of midfield and the familiar predictability of injury absentees didn’t make the cut.
However, Jack GrealishThe inclusion of ‘ raised some eyebrows. The Manchester City striker has been in superb form during Carsley’s short reign, scoring twice in three appearances for the temporary boss – as many goals as he managed in 36 games for Gareth Southgate.
More than a question of quality, Grealish’s availability was a major doubt heading into the November international break. because of the physical form.
Grealish came off the bench for City’s first game after the October international break, enjoying a front-row view of John Stones stoppage time winner against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The mercurial striker then picked up a groin injury, forcing him to sit out City record thrashing from Sparta Prague in the Champions League three days later. Pep Guardiola was initially optimistic about Grealish’s recovery, predicting on 23 October: “Hopefully, Jack will be out maybe a week, ten days.”
This muscle problem only got worse. After leaving Grealish out of City’s straits Premier League win over Southampton and a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup, Guardiola claimed there was “no chance of playing the next few games” for his number ten.
Grealish was unavailable for the defeats to Bournemouth or Sporting CP, missing a total of five games in the last three weeks with no return date being offered by Guardiola or any Manchester City representatives.
Carsley revealed his cautious optimism about Grealish’s availability. “We are fully in touch with the medical staff and we hope that Jack will be fit,” explained the 50-year-old manager. “He’s been training the last few days so he’ll come in, we’ll assess him and make sure he’s ready to play.
“I think he is an important player not only for this field but for the future. He is a fantastic player to coach and is an infectious character throughout the dressing room, on and off the pitch.
“You can see he likes playing in England so he’s a player we wanted to give as much time as we could.”
If Grealish is deemed fit enough to EnglandWith games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland coming up, then there should be every chance he will be available for City’s trip to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
