Brooke Norton-Cuffy appears to have pulled out of the England u20 squad, following his injury concerns ahead of the international break.

Arsenal loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy was one of two young Gunners to get called up for the England u20 squad over the international break, but the defender has seemingly had to pull out.

Norton-Cuffy wasn’t in the squads facing Chile and Morocco over the last few days, with only one game remaining on Tuesday against Australia.

This follows some concern about Norton-Cuffy’s fitness in the most recent matches of his loan spell.

The right-back received treatment for a possible injury in the 77th minute of Rotherham United’s win over Blackpool. He initially played on, before being substituted four minutes later.

After the game, Paul Warne joked “I don’t think he’s done his hammy any good” after Norton-Cuffy started to go down the tunnel and then raced back out to the touchline to celebrate a goal.

It initially appeared that the 18-year-old had overcome the injury, starting Rotherham United’s next game and playing 81 minutes. But perhaps he was still feeling the effects, and he’s being held back from England u20 duty as a precaution.

It makes sense to prioritise Norton-Cuffy’s fitness at this stage. The England u20s can manage without him, and it’s not worth risking a more serious injury problem for a couple of youth international fixtures.

The youngster has done very well stepping up to the Championship so far, earning a good reputation with his loan club. He’ll want to focus on keeping that going.