Marcus Rashford starts for England tonight against Malta at Wembley.
Personal reasons meant the Manchester United forward was unable to join the Three Lions camp until late in the week.
Manager Gareth Southgate, however, had revealed that Rashford has actually not missed any of the main preparation for Friday evening's game at Wembley.
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And asked if Rashford was available to start against Malta, Southgate said: “Yes. He hasn’t actually missed any training with us. He trained on Wednesday.
“We weren’t able to train as a team on Tuesday, we had that many players who had tough games on Sunday and were still recovering, little injury issues. So we did a minimal amount on Tuesday.
“He (Rashford) has basically trained as much as anyone else.”
England have been hit by a number of injuries going into Friday’s game with Malta and Monday's trip to North Macedonia.
Five players have pulled out of Southgate’s initial squad in James Maddison, Jude Bellingham, Callum Wilson, Lewis Dunk and Levi Colwill. Kalvin Phillips is also unavailable.
It has created the chance for others to step up, with Cole Palmer, Ezri Konsa and Rico Lewis all handed their first senior call-ups on Monday.
“There is always opportunities for other players coming in,” said Southgate.
“In terms of the selection of the team, then we are looking at what’s the right balance, what are the different quality of the players that we can put together so that we have the best possible attacking output - but also with the right structure and balance behind that.”
Starting England XI (4-3-3): Pickford; Trippier, Tomori, Maguire, Guehi, Gallagher, Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Foden, Kane, Rashford
Subs: Walker, Johnstone, Konsa, Grealish, Lewis, Saka, Rice, Watkins, Bowen, Palmer, Ramsdale, Phillips
Time and date: 7:45pm GMT on Friday November 17, 2023
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Referee: Luis Godinho (Portugal)
