Luke Shaw has suffered an injury-plagued season (Picture: Getty Images)
Luke Shaw’s chances of making England’s Euro 2024 squad appear to be good as Gareth Southgate provides a positive injury update on the left-back.
The Manchester United full-back was named in England’s provisional squad for the tournament but Southgate admitted at the time that things did not look great for him and the 28-year-old was a ‘long-shot’ to make the final 26-man squad.
Shaw has had an injury-plagued season, making just 12 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils, the last of which came in February.
The 31-cap defender is clearly nowhere near match fit, having not played for nearly four months, but Southgate has been encouraged by what he has seen from him.
England take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in a friendly on Monday night and Shaw will not be involved, but the Three Lions boss is talking up his chances of making the final squad for the tournament starting on 14 June.
‘He’s progressing very well, I have to say,’ Southgate told talkSPORT. ‘I think I said last week that until we had the players in front of us working with us, there was a lot of information that we didn’t have.
‘We’re pleased with how he’s progressing. There’s still a bit to do before he can get on the pitch in a game situation.
Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are both working back to fitness before the start of England’s campaign (Picture: Getty Images)
‘But really pleased with the work he’s doing with our physical performance team and our medics, so, yeah, he’s in with a good chance.’
There are other, less serious, injury concerns in the England squad, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka and John Stones all set to miss the match on Monday night, but some could return for the friendly against Iceland on Friday.
‘We’re pleased with the progress they’ve made. None of them will be involved tomorrow,’ Southgate said on Sunday. ‘I think Anthony has a good chance to be available for Friday. The other two [Maguire and Shaw] a bit more unlikely, but we will just see how quickly they can go really.
Anthony Gordon will hope to impress against Iceland (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Same tomorrow for Bukayo, probably the same with John Stones. Everybody else will be involved.
‘John because he reported a bit later, so he hasn’t worked with us for the number of days so better for him to follow an individual programme for the next couple of days.
‘Bukayo is fine, he’s progressing well but the periodisation we’ve taken from his injury is to rest tomorrow and then he should be available for Friday.’
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