Nico O'Reilly ruled out of England's Nations League trip to Prague
Nico O'Reilly has been ruled out of England's UEFA Nations League fixture in Prague against Czechia after missing training on Monday, the FA said ahead of Tuesday's match. The Manchester City defender did not make the travelling squad despite playing the full 90 minutes in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Spain at Wembley.
At Wembley, Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the second minute to put Spain 1-0 up. England led 2-1 at the interval after Harry Kane's goal, which O'Reilly had assisted just before halftime. O'Reilly then lost possession that allowed substitute Alex Baena to equalise; Kane also missed a penalty as Spain went on to win 3-2.
The FA said O'Reilly and Ezri Konsa, who both participated in the full match against Spain, followed individual programmes on Monday at the Tottenham Hotspur training facility. Thomas Tuchel’s other squad members trained together on Monday. Konsa is expected to be healthy to join the team.
Marc Guehi was involved in the opening goal by Yamal and was subsequently replaced by Jarrad Branthwaite during the Spain game. If Konsa is only fit enough for the bench, the Everton defender might take Guehi's place in the lineup. Those defensive selection considerations remain part of the squad planning for the upcoming fixtures.
Tuchel later speculated that the two City players, Guehi and O'Reilly, may have made mistakes due to the news that Manchester City were found guilty of 114 of the 115 accusations of violating the Premier League’s financial regulations. That comment followed scrutiny of individual errors in the match against Spain. The coaching staff adjusted training and squad work during the international break accordingly.
During this international window England began with four scheduled games. They are set to play the Czech Republic both home and away, with the first game on Tuesday night, and will then travel to face Croatia. Those fixtures form the remainder of England's planned matches for the break.
England travel to Prague to face Czechia on Tuesday night, with Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha—who had been left out of the Spain match—called up to replace Nico O'Reilly in the squad; Konsa is expected to be available for selection.