Bukayo Saka may still be available for Arsenal’s match against Bournemouth on Saturday, despite having withdrawn from the England squad due to injury.
The Arsenal forward did not travel with the England team to Helsinki for their Nations League fixture against Finland on Sunday.
Saka was released back to his club after being substituted during the second half of England’s 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.
Saka appeared to pull up while attempting to deliver a cross, clutching his right hamstring in discomfort.
He was later seen leaving the stadium walking gingerly, prompting concerns about his fitness.
Although the injury initially seemed serious enough to rule him out of England’s next match, interim England manager Lee Carsley decided not to take any risks.
However, subsequent scans have shown no significant damage to Saka’s hamstring, raising hopes that he could recover in time to feature for Arsenal in their upcoming Premier League match against Bournemouth.
“Bukayo would have been close but it would have been unfair to take a risk with him,” Carsley said ahead of the Finland game.
“He’s a positive person and I expect him to be fine.”
In the post-match press conference after the Greece game, Carsley had previously said: “He’s being assessed.
“Obviously, in the build-up to the first goal, you could see he felt something in his leg.”
Bukayo Saka was initially a doubt for Arsenal’s upcoming away match against Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
However, it appears that Arsenal’s worst fears regarding the injury, as well as concerns over a repeat of the Martin Odegaard setback from the last international break, have been alleviated.
The 23-year-old has been in superb form this season, delivering three goals and seven assists in 10 matches across all competitions for Arsenal.
Despite his performances, the injury scare with England is likely to reignite discussions about Saka’s workload, given that he has started every available match this season for both club and country.
After his standout display last weekend – where he contributed two assists and scored a goal in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Southampton – Mikel Arteta was asked whether he ever considered resting Saka.
“Yeah, there is and we have taken him off a couple of times this season,” he replied.
“And we have to manage the load of him, but at the moment he’s in a good place.”
With Bukayo Saka sidelined, England will look to Harry Kane for inspiration in Helsinki, especially after the Bayern Munich striker missed the recent defeat to Greece.
Jack Grealish, who excelled in Carsley’s first two matches in charge last month, is also fit and ready for selection.
“They both trained on Friday, they trained today, so in terms of their fitness everything’s fine,” Carsley said.
“What does Harry bring to the team?
“Having watched the games that he’s played in and the influence that he has on the team, he leads by example, really good captain, great positive person to have around.
“We always have that when we’ve got something really good in front of us: we’re always looking for the next big thing.
“But I think we should appreciate what we’ve got in front of us with Harry.
“His goalscoring speaks for itself, what he’s done in the past should massively be respected and I think he’s still got a lot of games and goals in him, hopefully.”
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