Jude Bellingham will miss England's friendly against Japan on Tuesday, manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed, despite the midfielder training with the squad. The 22-year-old is recovering from a hamstring injury that left him in tears in early February and only returned to action for Real Madrid as a late substitute eight days ago.
Tuchel had hoped Bellingham could feature after missing Friday's 1-1 draw with Uruguay, but the England head coach told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'I think it's too much of a risk. So, the tendency is that he will not play.' Bellingham participated in Monday's session at Tottenham's training ground but was limited to neutral involvement.
'We have all gained from him being part of it. He was excellent in training, but he was involved as a neutral player. He was involved in not the whole 100 per cent of the training,' Tuchel added. 'The injury is a muscle, it's a very particular one, and we absolutely don't want the re-injury in this moment of the season.'
Tuchel also revealed that Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were desperate to play but the risk of aggravating their injuries was 'way too big' at this stage. The Arsenal duo were among five injury withdrawals following the Uruguay match, along with club-mate Noni Madueke. Jordan Henderson, who captained the side against Uruguay, trained indoors away from the main group.
