Mason Mount and Reece James may be fit to play for Chelsea against Southampton on Saturday after England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed they have a “good chance” after including them in the squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary.
While Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel had raised doubts over their availability after they missed last night’s Champions League group stage defeat away to Juventus, Southgate sounded a more optimistic note after naming a 23-man squad that also sees former clubmate Fikayo Tomori recalled.
Mount has an unspecified knock while James has been carrying an ankle issue. Their potential return would be a significant boost after suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time of Tuchel's reign.
“Clearly they're still to appear for their clubs so there is an element of the unknown with that but our understanding is that Mason and Reece have a good chance for the weekend [vs Southampton]. We'll have to track that,” Southgate said.
“We don't play until next Saturday so there is a bit of time and we will know more as the week progresses in all of those situations.”
Mount’s presence has been sorely missed by Chelsea in the defeats to Juve and Manchester City last weekend.
Asked if those results underlined the midfielder’s importance for both club and country, Southgate added: “We’ve never hidden our admiration for what he brings to the team and the ability he has. We hope the injury he has sustained is not too serious and he’s back in the fold for the weekend.”
As for Tomori, the England manager has been impressed by the centre half’s form at Milan and with Manchester United’s Harry Maguire out through injury the decision was taken to reintroduce him to the group, with Arsenal’s Ben White surprisingly omitted.
“He finished last season well and we were tracking him closely at the end of last season,” Southgate added. “He has started well again this season. He is playing at a club where there is an expectation to win any week so he is performing under pressure.
"I thought he did very well at Liverpool in the Champions League game and the next game was Juventus so he has had big matches as well as the general league games.
“I like Fikayo in terms of the aggressiveness of his defending. Because he has speed he is confident enough to defend on the front foot and his use of the ball is improving all the time as well. Milan have been delighted with him and it has been a really good experience for him.”
