The international break is now well underway, but two Arsenal youngsters withdrew from England youth duty before it even started.

There’s been a lot of talk this week about Bukayo Saka’s injury withdrawal from the England squad for the October internationals, but he wasn’t the only Arsenal player to pull out of England duty through injury.

Youth players Reuell Walters and Amario Cozier-Duberry were both meant to be involved with England in October, with Walters playing for the u20s and Cozier-Duberry for the u19s. They’ve both since withdrawn.

Walters was the first to be replaced, with Reading’s Nelson Abbey taking his place in England’s Elite League Squad.

The u20 side had two matches scheduled over the break, facing Romania on Thursday and Portugal next Tuesday, both in the Euro Elite League.

Then Cozier-Duberry was replaced by Ezra Carrington of Manchester City, with the Arsenal man missing the England u19s’ qualifiers for the Euros.

The u19 side faced Montenegro on Wednesday, Wales on Saturday, and they’ll play Austria on Tuesday.

Fellow Arsenal youngster Lino Sousa was fit to accept his call-up, so the Gunners have still had one player involved in the fixtures.

England confirmed that both withdrawals were due to injury. Little is known about the injuries at this stage, with the two players having completed the full 90 minutes against RC Lens last week, before missing Tuesday’s win over Exeter City.

Walters was even in training with the first team ahead of Arsenal’s match against Manchester City, so presumably that’s when he picked up the problem.