Thomas Tuchel insisted England took zero risk with Alex Scott after the midfielder’s withdrawal with a thigh injury left Bournemouth unhappy over his treatment. Scott excelled during the 7-0 win over Croatia in the Nations League on Saturday but will play no further part in this international break and could be out for two months after exacerbating a muscle issue during his full debut for the national team. The frustration for Bournemouth is that the 23-year-old played through the pain after feeling discomfort before facing Croatia.
Scott, who was in line to start again when England host Czechia in their fourth and final game of this camp on Tuesday, made way for James Garner after 70 minutes in Rijeka and underwent tests on the problem on Sunday. Bournemouth, who are also without the French forward Eli Junior Kroupi, face being without one of their most important players as they enter a busy part of the season. They are looking for their first win in the Premier League and are in the Europa League.
But Tuchel is adamant that England, who have also lost the Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa to a quad injury, followed the proper medical procedure with Scott. He trained in full before Croatia, did extra work after the training sessions. We knew he was in treatment but there were only green lights from him and the medics.
After the match, he said he could have played 90 minutes and didn’t feel an injury. Even before the scan he didn’t feel injured so it’s a strange one. There was zero risk taken from our side.
On a human level, I feel bad that he has not the next cap tomorrow.” Asked if he had a clear conscience, Tuchel said: “Yeah, 100%. I would not have taken any risk.” Scott’s determination to represent his country was underlined by his decision to stay with the squad after the recent death of his grandfather. The former Bristol City midfielder, who remains a key target for Chelsea, made his debut when he came on during last week’s win over Czechia in Prague.
He earned a starting place against Croatia and reprised his excellent partnership with Elliot Anderson from last year’s Under-21 European Championship. Scott is unlikely to be unavailable when England face Croatia and Spain in their final two games in Nations League Group A3 next month. It is a headache for Tuchel after Scott emerged as competition for Declan Rice during the past fortnight.
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