New York, June 27 (IANS) England manager Thomas Tuchel has defended his decision to take only three recognised full-backs to the FIFA World Cup after confirming Reece James will miss Saturday’s final Group L clash against Panama because of a hamstring injury.

James was assessed following England’s goalless draw with Ghana on Tuesday and has stayed at the team’s Kansas City base rather than travel to New Jersey for the Panama match. But Tuchel is still hopeful the Chelsea defender will be fit for England’s round-of-32 match next week.

That injury, and Tino Livramento’s earlier withdrawal from the competition with a calf problem, has led to questions over Tuchel’s squad selection. The only recognised full-backs picked were James, Livramento and Djed Spence, with midfielder-turned-defender Nico O’Reilly and centre-back Dan Burn also deputising at left-back. Spence, Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa can all provide cover on the right if required.

Despite the criticism, Tuchel insisted he had no regrets.

“Yes, I am (happy with my options at right-back). I selected the team, so I’m very happy with everything with the characteristic of the players and strengths that they give us,” Tuchel said.

“We would love to have every single key player, we would love to have them available, it’s not available – we find solutions, it’s what we do. It’s a tournament, we move on.”

Tuchel also played down the severity of James’ injury and expressed confidence that the defender would feature again if England progressed.

“It’s a minor hamstring issue, he’s not been able to train the last two days,” Tuchel confirmed.

“He’s now on an accelerated rehabilitation program and we take it game by game, but we strongly believe that he will be available (during the tournament).”

England got a boost ahead of the meeting with Panama as Bukayo Saka was declared fit to start following his easing back from a long-term Achilles tendinitis problem. Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson also returned to training on Friday, after calf and glute issues respectively on Thursday, and are available for selection.

–IANS

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