World Cup 2018: Dele Alli still an England doubt despite returning to training ahead of Panama match

The 22-year-old took to the field on Saturday as England began their final preparations for their penultimate group match

Samuel Lovett
Saturday 23 June 2018 08:54 BST
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England v Panama: World Cup group game preview

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Dele Alli remains a major doubt for England's World Cup clash against Panama despite returning to training ahead of Sunday's Group G clash.

The Tottenham midfielder suffered a minor thigh injury against Tunisia and has been rated as "unlikely" to feature in Nizhny Novgorod by England boss Gareth Southgate.

While Alli took to the field alongside his team-mates on Saturday morning, he participated in the warm-up before carrying out individual drills away from the main group.

England were completing their final preparations at the Spartak Zelenogorsk stadium before flying to Nizhny Novgorod.

Alli helped England clinch a 2-1 victory in their World Cup opener on Monday, when he looked set to come off in the first half after suffering a knock.

Fabian Delph was stripped and seemingly ready to come on, but Alli managed 80 minutes before eventually being replaced.

A scan confirmed a quad injury that needed to be managed this week.

Southgate told talkSPORT on Friday: "We have to wait and see whether Dele is going to be fit. It's looking unlikely because he has not trained with the team yet, but he's progressing really well, so we won't rule that out just yet."

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