Lee Carsley says Bukayo Saka is being assessed after the Arsenal winger sustained an injury in England’s Nations League loss against Greece.
Saka started in England’s 2-1 defeat but was forced off in the 51st minute. The 23-year-old limped off the field, having sustained the issue moments after Greece had taken a 1-0 lead through Vangelis Pavlidis. He was replaced for Chelsea’s Noni Madueke in the second half at Wembley Stadium.
Speaking post-match, England’s interim manager Carsley was coy about Saka’s condition, stating that medical staff are examining the severity of the injury.
“He’s being assessed,” Carsley said. “Obviously in the build-up to the first goal you can see he felt something in his leg.”
Benfica forward Pavlidis, meanwhile, struck twice to earn his nation a win in the League B Group 2 clash on Thursday.
Pavlidis put his side ahead early in the second half with a clinical finish, and the visitors had three other goals disallowed on the night.
Jude Bellingham looked like he salvaged a point for England with an 87th-minute equaliser, but the impressive Pavlidis had the final say, scoring from close range in the fourth minute of stoppage time to beat goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
“We were second best for a lot of tonight. It’s disappointing,” Carsley said to ITV Sport. “We’re going to get setbacks. It’s important we respond well now against Finland.
“We tried something different; we tried to overload the midfield and play a little bit differently. We tried it for 20 minutes yesterday, and something we experimented with. It’s disappointing it didn’t come off. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect too much, and I think it’s a case of trying again.
“With the quality we’ve got, look at all the goals tonight; they’re all from mistakes, which is disappointing. Even at 1-1, we were quite fortunate at that point.”
Carsley added that the result “doesn’t change” things around his England future, adding that the “remit was to do the three camps”.
England next travel to face Finland on Sunday.
(Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
