Euro 2024 fitness boost for England as Luke Shaw and John Stones train
Gareth Southgate has been dealing with fitness issues and absentees in the build-up to this summer’s tournament.
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Your support makes all the difference.Luke Shaw and John Stones trained as England’s Euro 2024 preparations stepped up on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate has been dealing with fitness issues and absentees in the build-up to this summer’s tournament.
But all 26 players trained on Tuesday as England went through their paces for the first time since arriving in Germany the previous night.
A couple of hundred people watched on at Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld in Jena, where defenders Shaw and Stones took part in the session.
The former went off with a knock halfway through Friday’s 1-0 friendly loss to Iceland but has seemingly shaken off that potential issue.
Shaw also trained as he steps up rehabilitation from the hamstring issues he has been dealing with since mid-February.
England kick off their Group C campaign on Sunday against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen before taking on Denmark and Slovenia.
Southgate expects Shaw to be available in time to face the Danes and he was wearing a different coloured bib to team-mates in a small-sided game at the end of the session.
England’s players spent time after the session signing autographs for youngsters, who provided an excitable backdrop in Jena, where Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane proved popular.
Jude Bellingham, who starred in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund before joining Real Madrid last summer, also received a lot of love at the home of Carl Zeiss Jena.
The 20-year-old only joined up with the squad on Sunday having been given time off following Madrid’s Champions League triumph at Wembley the previous weekend.
Tom Heaton is another to have recently joined up with the camp after the Manchester United shot-stopper was called in as a training goalkeeper for the tournament.
England flew from Birmingham to their central Germany base on Monday evening, which they spent exploring their luxurious Spa and Golf Resort Weimarer Land base.
Tuesday morning was spent doing UEFA media activity, from TikTok videos to goal celebrations, before blowing off the cobwebs down the road from their Blankenhain base in Jena.