England’s Southgate defiant about Stones start despite injury،
England manager Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to select John Stones for two games in the space of three days after the Manchester City defender limped off during Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Belgium after just 10 minutes due to injury. of an injury.
Stones, who played the full 90 minutes of Wembley's 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday, started against Belgium before injuring his adductor muscle.
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The injury now leaves Stones doubtful for City's crucial Premier League clash against Arsenal on Sunday – a situation made worse for the champions with Kyle Walker returning to the Etihad after suffering a hamstring injury against Brazil.
But Southgate did not regret his selection of the Stones against Belgium and said other top nations had done the same with senior players during this international break.
“We were doing [with Stones] what Holland did with Virgil van Dijk tonight, what Norway did with [Martin] Odegaard and also what the Dutch with Nathan Aké, but that [criticism] only seems to fall on us.
“Of course I'm disappointed if he [Stones] has a problem. It appears to be in the adductor area, so we'll have to wait and see.
“But John hadn't played for two weeks before joining the team, so it's not an overload problem. But I hate sending players back to their clubs who aren't fully fit.”
England earned a draw against fellow Euro 2024 qualifiers Belgium, with Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham scoring the equalizer four minutes into added time at the end of the match.
Belgium took the lead twice through Youri Tielemans – an Ivan Toney penalty was England's first equalizer – but Bellingham's goal spared England two successive defeats.
While Southgate handed first starts to Toney and Kobbie Mainoo, he said the end result was positive due to the changes in his squad.
“Jude is of course in the headlines and that competitive desire to not lose, to win, got us through it,” Southgate said. “We recovered from setbacks with a fairly inexperienced team against a team with very good players.
“Some players have definitely come out positive from the opportunities they've had, so we have great depth, but injuries are a concern and we still have the real heat of the season ahead. We know what we have so far. 'at the end.”
Belgium coach Dominic Tedesco said England deserved to salvage a draw, even though his side had led for much of the match.
“With five seconds to go you can win a match at Wembley,” he said. “It would be something very special and fantastic, but throughout the game England were very strong and created a lot of chances, so I think it's a fair result.
“It's not easy to control this kind of team for 90 minutes, especially here at Wembley.”
