England v Rep of Ireland - Gareth Southgate frustrated as packed programme takes its toll

The England manager’s comments came just hours after he was left hoping Joe Gomez had avoided a serious knee injury after the Liverpool defender collapsing in pain during training.

The 23-year-old had been due to play a key role in this month’s international triple-header, only to pull up in alarming fashion on the eve of tonight’s friendly with the Republic of Ireland.

Gomez’s injury comes at a time when players’ well-being is a hot topic, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp among the high-profile managers calling for five substitutes to be reintroduced in the Premier League.

And Southgate shares some of those concerns, believing more could have been done to ease the players’ workload in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Joe is a good example,” the England manager said. “We know the load he’s had in the last six weeks so we gave him and the lads who’d been involved in European matches an extra day’s recovery and yet still something like this has happened.

“There are lots of discussions about extra subs and things like that.

“But the bigger picture here is that governing bodies, broader authorities need to work together.

“We have a winter World Cup in two years. There was an opportunity this year to think differently.

“The pandemic has thrown up all sorts of difficulties, but everybody has tried to cram the programme into a smaller period and nobody has given way and people haven’t collaborated enough.

“We are going to see injuries and it’s a desperately sad situation because when you see the impact on an individual, it hits home even more.

“We’re now trying to affect things too late. A lot of these discussions could have happened in the summer.

“We could have delayed the start of the league, we could have delayed international football.

“We could have adjusted the calendar in its entirety and all worked together. And people haven’t done that.”

On Gomez’s injury, Southgate added: “I can’t tell you how serious it is because he’s yet to have scans.

“What was upsetting was to see he was in a fair bit of pain and the fact was there was nobody around him when the injury happened, so I didn’t like that element of it.

“But we’ve just got to wait and see what the scans show and we’re all hopeful for him that it’s not what it might be.”

The injury is a gut punch for player, club and country.

Gomez suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury while playing for Southgate’s England Under-21s in October 2015 and injured his ankle representing the senior team in a friendly against Holland in 2018.

The defender sustained a broken leg later that year and could miss another lengthy period for Liverpool.

“My immediate thoughts are with him because he’s had some difficulties with injury in the past,” added Southgate. “So we’re hoping as much as we possibly can and praying that it’s not going to be a long-term one.”

Southgate will try to balance his needs with those of his players against Ireland, when Reece James – suspended for the Nations League matches against Belgium and Iceland – is set to start in front of Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope.

But arguably the biggest moment would be a debut for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, with the 17-year-old in line to become the Three Lions’ third-youngest player tonight.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.