Folarin Balogun was forced off half an hour into England Under-21’s 3-2 .friendly defeat away to Georgia this afternoon with a stomach problem.
The Arsenal striker, who scored in his first start for the team against Czech Republic last Thursday and subsequently indicated that he needs to be playing regular senior club football, was replaced by Leeds United’s Sam Greenwood.
But fears of an injury were allayed after the game by head coach Lee Carsley, who vowed to take the positives from his experimental line-up being far more soundly beaten than the scoreline would suggest.
"He had stomach cramps and he was struggling in the first half so we made a change.," Carsley said. "He's not injured, he's just got a stomach bug. I'm not sure [what caused it]."
Carsley's team showed nine changes from the side that beat the Czechs 3-1 in a European Championship qualifier at Turf Moor but it was still an XI featuring plenty of talent and experience as Balogun was joined by Rhian Brewster up front and Angel Gomes, who has been impressing with Lille, in midfield.
Yet they were outplayed by a hungrier, more determined home team. Giorgi Guliashvili scored the first two goals for Georgia before right back Giorgi Gocholeishvili added further embarrassment with a largely unopposed dribble forward before finishing with ease.
Greenwood pulled one back eight minutes from the end after Clinton Mola's goalbound header deflected off him on the way into the bottom right corner before Marc Guehi, the captain and Crystal Palace centre back on as a substitute, made it 3-2 in added time.
"Overall, there are players we've got to have a really good look at tonight," Carsley said, rejecting a suggestion that the scoreline flattered his team. "We've got to take the postives from it. It's been a really good camp. You very rarely get a chance to work on stuff."
England changed their approach to defending set pieces, and subsequently conceded the first goal from a corner, while several fringe players were given run outs.
Carsley added: "It was my first opportunity to try different players and look at the depth of our talent pool before the qualifiers in March."
