Declan Rice has confirmed he will be available to face Ghana in England’s second World Cup match after appearing to limp off during Wednesday night’s defeat of Croatia.
Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions made a superb start to the World Cup as they look to end six decades of hurt, with Harry Kane scoring a brace in a 4-2 victory.
But the party mood was dulled slightly by the sight of Rice hobbling off the pitch with 72 minutes played.
The Arsenal star started in central midfield alongside Eliott Anderson and impressed in doing so, assisting Kane’s second goal of the evening.
He was replaced by Morgan Rogers with just under 20 minutes left to play, though, and did not appear to be moving comfortably as he returned to the bench.
ITV commentators stated that he appeared to be limping after leaving the pitch, but in a post-match interview, he said his issue was little more than a niggle.
“All good, good as gold,” Rice declared. “Just what I’ve been nursing, probably, in the second half of the season at Arsenal, little neural pains here and there.
“But yeah, I’m all good, I’m all fine, just precaution and I’ll be back out there again against Ghana.”
There were also worries surrounding Marcus Rashford’s condition after he appeared to hold his hamstring late in the game, but Tuchel confirmed there were no major injury worries.
“Let’s see, I hope they are OK because I would never normally take Declan out, but I didn’t want to take any risk.”
