England are gearing up for their Euro 2024 quarterfinal showdown with Switzerland on Saturday. However, fans have been dealt a concern as one key player was spotted in heavy strapping ahead of that tie.
That man is John Stones, the Manchester City veteran who has been a mainstay in the Three Lions defense this tournament. The 30-year-old was seen in training sporting heavy strapping as he and his teammates prepared for the weekend outing.
John Stones training but with heavy strapping on right leg. #ENG #EURo2024 pic.twitter.com/yz8ageLOyp
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 3, 2024
John Stones training with heavy strapping on right knee #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/ANjB0cZH24
— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) July 3, 2024
Stones played the entire 120 minutes during England's dramatic 2-1 win over Slovakia in the round of 16. Jude Bellingham scored a breathtaking overhead-kick goal with only a few seconds left on the clock to spare Southgate's men an embarrassing exit, with Harry Kane netting the winner in extra time.
However, the Man City center-back left the stadium wearing protection on his leg, which was the first warning that all is not well with the former Everton defender. The Daily Mail reports that his strapping is most likely a precaution, predicting that he is still in line for Saturday's quarterfinal, but question marks linger nonetheless.
Additionally, Marc Guehi is suspended for the Switzerland showdown after picking up his second booking of the competition in the first half against Slovenia. Southgate would not want to be without both of his first-choice center-backs.
Joe Gomez, Ezri Konsa, and Joe Gomez are options if one — or both — center-backs are unavailable this weekend. Additionally, Southgate could revert to a back three, as calls for Kyle Walker to drop deeper in favor of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bukayo Sake to shift to left wingback grow.
The Euro 2020 runners-up have won only one game so far in normal time, with that being the unimpressive 1-0 triumph over Serbia in their opener. Kane and Co. suffered back-to-back draws against Denmark and Slovenia before needing a last-minute equalizer and extra time to dispatch Slovakia in the last 16.
As a result, England will need to improve if they wish to get past the Swiss. Only time will tell if this will result in a personnel or formation switch.