Gareth Southgate faces an anxious wait over the availability of Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell, after both of them were forced to self-isolate after conceding their plans for England's Group D final against the Czech Republic I went.
The Football Association is in talks with Public Health England (PHE) about whether Mount and Chilwell could face off at Wembley on Tuesday after their Chelsea teammate Billy Gilmour pulled off a 0-0 draw between England and Scotland on Friday. Tested positive for COVID-19.
Gilmour was pictured being greeted by Mount and Chilwell the entire time and although the entire England squad and staff tested negative today, the pair are now isolated from the rest of the group.
An FA statement read: "As a precaution at this time and in consultation with Public Health England [PHE], Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount are in isolation following talks with Scotland player Billy Gilmour in Friday's match.
"The pair will be kept away from the rest of England players and the wider support team, pending further discussions with PHE.
"The entire squad had a lateral flow test on Monday afternoon and all were negative again, as was the case with Sunday's UEFA pre-match PCR tests.
"We will continue to follow all COVID-19 protocols and UEFA testing regimes while in close contact with PHE."
Southgate learned the news on Monday after taking charge of his final pre-match training session at Tottenham's Hotspur Way facility and admitted he would delay naming his squad until Tuesday morning as he awaits further information.
“Obviously there has been a lot of doubt [Mount and Chilwell might play] but there are still discussions and investigations going on behind the scenes,” said the 50-year-old. "They are in isolation and we just have to find out in the next 12 hours.
"We worked on the training pitch with the players this morning and then you realize this is the situation so I can't say it's not disruptive. Then we don't really know at this point whether they're going to be there tomorrow. Or they could be out for 10 days. So there are a lot of unknowns, frankly, at this point in time."
It is currently unclear why Mount and Gilmour are the only players to be isolated. Previously, studies have shown that the risk of transmission during games is very low, but Gilmour is likely to have been closely related to several Scottish squads before and after the games.
No other Scotland player is falling apart despite an Instagram video from Gilmour - which has since been deleted - showing the midfielder chatting with several teammates after the game.
It is likely that Scotland announced Gilmour's test positive to PHE, which then began a dialogue discussing the possibility of close contact with other Scottish players.
According to the Scotland FA, it was the PHE who have admitted that there was no close contact with Gilmour. PHE then looked on the outside and identified Mount and Chilwell as potential candidates for self-isolation, given how they interacted with Gilmour.
But, crucially, it was the England FA who took the decision to ask him to self-isolate as a precaution. Conversations between the PHE and the English FA now center on whether Gilmour spent enough time with Mount and Chilwell throughout – it is believed that their conversations continued in the tunnel – to fall under the definition of 'close contact'. for.
Asked what the process would be like in the next 12 hours, Southgate said, "I have no idea, frankly. Look, I don't want to play for Scotland, but if you're all in the dressing room together, Where does everything stand? I don't know if there is an honest answer.
"Our medical people are dealing with all of this. I'm being updated regularly, which is a little bit more information every hour or so, and we have to accept whatever the situation is and adapt to it.
"Obviously, it has nothing to do with being on the pitch. So so there is no problem around training teams, for example. When the Premier League resumes, training and matches will be held in such situations. Shown in where there were no contacts. To be risky for him in the long run."
Back in March, Southgate called for players to be vaccinated because the United Kingdom's program was quickly and successfully protecting large swathes of the general public.
England's squad was not vaccinated before Euro 2020 and Southgate said: "In terms of vaccination, I think you need to go back to my suggestions in March, where I need to suggest anything like this." There was a loud shout for courage.
"I proposed it, but I certainly also said at the time that I fully understood where we stood in the immunization order and that it was more important that the medically vulnerable and everyone else they were Meet you first
"I thought we were getting to a point where it would have been helpful, but actually vaccination won't prevent you from catching the virus, so it won't necessarily avoid those situations in fairness.
“I was not involved in any formal talks. I just made an observation that I thought looking at the tournament, we are asking professional players to go to such events and travel and go back home to their families. Were, that there it would be a point where they were at greater risk of catching the virus than the others. But that ship has sailed."