Ezri Konsa missed England training ahead of their Nations League meeting with Czechia, with Thomas Tuchel waiting on further checks before deciding his availability
Ezri Konsa will undergo further checks before England decide whether he can face the Czech Republic after missing training on Monday.
The Arsenal defender missed the session alongside Nico O'Reilly, and Thomas Tuchel said both players are dealing with minor issues. England travel to Prague for their second Nations League game of the international break, having lost 3-2 to Spain at Wembley on Saturday.
Konsa has not been ruled out, but Tuchel couldn't give a firm answer on his availability when he spoke ahead of the game.
"I'm not sure yet. They missed training. So that's what you saw because of minor issues, but there are still issues and they need to be assessed and take a decision tomorrow morning," Tuchel said.
The timing gives England little room to wait. Tuchel would prefer not to make wholesale changes following the Spain defeat and said his original plan for this international window had been to keep a fairly settled side where possible.
"Ideally, I would love to put the same team out there, but I need to speak with doctors, physios, and the players themselves, what is responsible and what not," he said.
"My mindset was before the camp to not rotate too much but yeah we need to be of course and we will always be very considerate with the health of the players."
Konsa's absence from training comes during a spell Tuchel has already admitted is difficult to manage. England's players had only a short turnaround after facing Spain, with recovery work taking up much of the time before another flight and another game.
Tuchel gave a fairly detailed account of the schedule during his press conference. Players who did not start against Spain trained at Wembley, while those who had played were given recovery time before the squad came back together.
"I find this format now even more challenging than any other format," Tuchel said, pointing to the travelling, limited recovery time and changes players have to deal with when moving away from their clubs.
The England head coach also believes switching between different training methods and tactical roles can add to the physical demands.
"The change of training style, the change of style of play, sometimes the change of position for a player between national team and club brings its own risks for injury," he said.
Tuchel was happier with the condition of the players who did make it onto the training pitch. He described the session as very good and said those involved were in good spirits, although he repeatedly returned to the need to speak with the medical staff before settling on his team.
England will now wait for the outcome of Konsa's assessment. The Three Lions have already been missing Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, who has been unavailable this international break, with Tuchel admitting during the same press conference that the midfielder was "gutted" to miss out and remains one of his key players. Rice still travelled to Wembley to watch the Spain game with his son.
Konsa's issue has at least been described as minor, rather than anything more serious. The decision on the Czech Republic will come after the final checks on Tuesday morning, leaving England and Arsenal waiting to see whether he can return immediately or needs more time before playing again.
