Tuchel confident England can cope as James and Quansah ruled out of DR Congo clash

Thomas Tuchel has expressed confidence in his squad’s ability to cope without Reece James and Jarell Quansah after both right-back options were ruled out of England’s World Cup round of 32 fixture against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Atlanta.

England’s defensive resources on the right have been stretched across the tournament. Tino Livramento was lost to a calf injury before the Group L opener against Croatia. James started the first two group games before a hamstring problem forced him out of Saturday’s win over Panama, during which replacement Quansah then limped off with a twisted ankle. Both players trained away from the group on Tuesday, and Tuchel confirmed neither will be fit to start the knockout campaign.

“They are getting close,” Tuchel said. “They are getting closer and closer. I saw them on the pitch. In the nature of their injury, Jarell is a little bit ahead of Reecey. But the race was close even to make it into the match squad this time, so we need to make sure that we have more matches. That is the main focus, and then they will be available very soon.”

Djed Spence is expected to be deployed at right-back against DR Congo, while Ezri Konsa — a key figure in Tuchel’s plans since the German took charge — could shift across from his usual centre-back role to provide cover.

Tuchel was measured in his assessment of the situation. “First of all, I trust my players. I’ve seen them for weeks, I picked them and that’s what football is all about. You have injuries. It’s not worth being too long upset about it and focus on the problem. Find the solution — this is team sport. We would love to have Reece with us, we would love to have Jarell with us, but they’re injured at the moment so other players will step up and we will push this over the line tomorrow as a team no matter what happens.”

The more encouraging news came from midfield, where Declan Rice rejoined the main group in training. The Arsenal midfielder was substituted as a precaution during the Croatia opener and later disclosed he had been managing neural pain in his hamstring since Christmas. He also picked up a dead-leg in the closing moments of the Ghana match and was an unused substitute against Panama, but Rice moved to dismiss any lingering fitness concerns.

“I’m good, genuinely, I’m good,” he said. “I know there’s been concern over my hamstring, which has been an issue, but that’s not a problem because I’m still here training, I’m playing. I’m fine. I got a dead calf in the last minute of the Ghana game — the guy whacked me and it literally blew up for like three days, so that was just unlucky.”

England face DR Congo in the round of 32 in Atlanta.