Yahoo News Eric Dier injury opens England door for Declan Rice to start vs Montenegro
Gareth Southgate has backed Declan Rice to make a first England start against Montenegro on Monday, with Eric Dier returning to Tottenham following a hip injury.
The Spurs midfielder, who started in a three alongside Dele Alli and Jordan Henderson, was withdrawn injured after just 17 minutes, though Southgate called on Ross Barkley, not Rice, to replace him at that time.
Rice, who had his international switch from Republic of Ireland ratified last month, was brought on for his first England cap in the moments after Raheem Sterling had made it 3-0 to the hosts.
Having begun their Euro 2020 qualification with a 5-0 win, Southgate’s side will be looking to make it two from two when they travel to Montenegro on Monday before looking towards the inaugural Nations League finals in June.
"Is Declan Rice ready to start on Monday? Yes, I think we’ve got some good options to play players in different positions, so our intention at the moment is to go with the squad that we’ve got," Southgate said.
"But we need to just check on the rest of the players over the next day or so to make sure there’s no issues."
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There was little to do for Rice having been introduced at such a comfortable time for the hosts, with fellow debutant Callum Hudson-Odoi following on shortly after - but the West Ham star looked comfortable nonetheless.
"I thought we’d lost a bit of shape and a bit of tactical discipline in midfield," Southgate said of the decision to introduce Rice.
"It was 2-0 when we were going to make that change, but the third goal meant that he could enjoy it and breathe a little bit more when he went in, so it was a perfect game for him to come into, really."
With such a short turnaround before facing Montenegro, Southgate will have to consider some rotation.
The likes of James Ward-Prowse, Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose were all unused substitutes here at Wembley, but the England boss is keen to ensure the confidence gained against the Czechs is not wasted with wholesale changes.
“I think we need to find the balance between freshness and continuity so that’s been on our mind most of the week,” Southgate added.
“I need to have a look at their game from tonight to finalise what we expect, but we know, we have been there twice before and not managed to beat them so it will be an intense environment, completely different to the challenge tonight and a good one for us because we have to be able to adapt to these different situations and make sure that we can show our quality in different environments.”
