Ezri Konsa Ruled Out of England's Nations League Clash With Croatia

England have confirmed that Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa will miss Thursday’s Nations League match against Croatia at Wembley, according to a statement released on Tuesday morning.

Bournemouth defender James Hill has been named as his replacement.

The statement read: “Ezri Konsa will not be in contention for Croatia at Wembley on Thursday as he continues to follow his own programme but will return to full training later this week before Sunday’s trip to Spain.”

Konsa has been restricted to individual training since he joined up with the squad. The 29-year-old had been expected to start against Croatia.

He will remain with the squad and could play against Spain. That match is in Madrid on Sunday, with a 7.45pm GMT kick-off.

Hill, 24, receives his first senior England call-up. He has played every minute of Bournemouth’s first 10 Premier League games this season and has represented England at under-20 and under-21 level.

Tuchel has also had to rework his defence this week. Newcastle’s Dan Burn joined the squad after Marc Guehi withdrew with a hip injury.

Konsa was substituted just after the hour mark in Arsenal’s 2-1 Champions League win at Slavia Prague last Wednesday. He had a knock to his knee, and Mikel Arteta said the substitution was a precaution.

Konsa recovered to face Hull City on Saturday. He played the full match as Arsenal won 1-0 at the Emirates, with captain Martin Odegaard scoring the only goal.

The result left Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League going into the international break. They have won eight of the nine league games Konsa has played since joining from Aston Villa.

Konsa signed from Villa on August 21. He arrived as a replacement for William Saliba, who has been out with a back injury suffered at the World Cup.

Konsa has already faced Croatia twice this year. He started England’s World Cup opener against them and played the full 90 minutes of the 7-0 Nations League win in Rijeka last month.

He also played the full match in England’s 3-2 defeat by Spain in the group opener, then was an unused substitute in the 2-0 win over Czechia. England later ruled him out of the final game of that window, at home to Czechia, and he returned to Arsenal for further assessment.

Spain, who lifted the World Cup, lead Group 3 with 12 points. England are second on nine points, Croatia are third on three and Czechia have none.

The top two teams qualify for the quarter-finals, and England need one more point to secure their place.

Arsenal’s next match after the break is against Newcastle United on November 21.