Declan Rice was forced off with a minor injury during England’s 4-2 World Cup win over Croatia in Dallas.
Declan Rice has been playing through a wall of pain for the past few months.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has insisted he believes Declan Rice’s injury scare is just a precautionary measure.
The Arsenal midfielder was sent off in the 72nd minute after feeling troubled and was later seen limping, in worrying news for the Three Lions.
However, manager Tuchel appeared to be adamant in his post-match press conference that Rice would be fine.
The German said: “Declan had an unusual loss of the ball and felt a little uncomfortable.
“Then I asked him and he pointed directly to his lower back and upper hamstring and said he was feeling discomfort.
“We didn’t want to take any risks and if we were to remove Declan, which is something we never want to do, it was a time to protect.
“I think Reece James did a great job in his place in midfield.
“I hope it’s nothing more than this. Declan finally reassured me, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’ I know it’s uncomfortable. We’ll deal with it. It’s not a big thing to worry about.”
Rice is believed to have taken the injection late in the season to help Arsenal pursue Premier League title and Champions League glory.
England international Declan Rice sent off with minor injury (Image: Getty Images)
After the thrilling six-goal win at Arlington, Rice still remained healthy enough to give an interview with ITV and also appeared to have eased concerns about his health.
“Everything is fine, as good as gold,” he said, before adding: “I’ve probably been taking care of myself for the second half of the season, but there’s a little bit of soreness here and there, but I’m fine.”
“I’m fine. I’ll just take precautions and go back to the game against Ghana.”
“I think the first half probably looked worse than it actually was because of the way we conceded goals,” Rice added of England’s performance.
“We had a lot of the ball, but I think you could see that punch and that desire from the first moment in the second half.
“There was an extra spring in our step, in our pressing, in our strength, the way we moved forward, the way we created chances in the second half, and we had a world-class player in our keeper. So, yeah, I think it was a great performance overall.”
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