Gareth Southgate confirmed that Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden have been sent home early from the England camp after breaking team rules in Iceland.
Manchester United's Greenwood, 18, and Manchester City's Foden, 20, celebrated their international debuts in the 1-0 win over Iceland at the weekend after being called up to the senior squad for the first time. However, the pair will not travel with the rest of the squad to Denmark for Tuesday's match after Icelandic media published stills and a short video of girls in a hotel room with them.
The England squad were exempt from strict coronavirus protocols in Iceland but were not allowed to mix with anyone from outside of their bubble, which the meeting with girls was a breach of.
Southgate confirmed that the pair would play no part in the next game as a result in what must be considered a setback for their hopes of going to the European Championships next summer.
"Unfortunately this morning it was brought to my attention that the two boys have broken the COVID guidelines in terms of our secure bubble," he told reporters.
"We had to decide very quickly that they couldn't have very interaction with the rest of the team. Given the procedures that we have to follow, they'll have to travel back to England separately.
"Nothing has happened in the areas that we occupy in the hotel. We're still getting ot the depths of the information because this was only brought to my attention a couple of hours before training so we're still getting to grips to some of the detail but it is clear that there was a breach of the COVID guidelines.
"We had no alternative but to do what we are doing. I'm not going into any more detail until I am clear of everything. It is a very serious situation and we have treated it that way."
He added: "I think at the moment I’m trying to take a lot of information in. Obviously they have been naive, we have dealt with it appropriately. I recognise their age but the whole world is dealing with this pandemic.
"These are two boys I don’t know particularly well at the moment so can’t speak in great depth. I have got to try and speak with them later in the appropriate way. They have got responsibilities and they have apologised."
And Southgate could not confirm whether or not Foden will have to self-isolate for 14 days on his return to England, having broken the team bubble.
