Declan Rice has admitted he’s hoping not to be playing at right-back against Mexico, despite being willing to do so late in England’s win over D.R. Congo.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice helped England to a comeback win over D.R. Congo on Wednesday, but for the latter stages of that win he was asked to play at right-back.
Djed Spence had been playing the position, but he was substituted for Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze as England struggled to break down their opposition. That meant a vacancy at right-back that Rice had to fill.
Speaking afterwards, Rice told the BBC that he was more than willing to do the job for the team, but that he’s hoping he doesn’t have to do it again.
“When I went to right-back, look, I’ve played there two or three times this season,” Rice said.
“I know the role. It’s obviously not my biggest strength, but to do anything for this team, and for the manager… He asked me, and I said ‘of course, there’s 12 minutes left and I’ll give it my best’.
“I’ve done well there and let’s just see what happens next game, but hopefully I don’t have to be at right-back! It was probably the hardest 12 minutes of the game, that stint at right-back.”
The good news is that it looks like England might have a natural right-back available again by the time they play their next game against Mexico.
Thomas Tuchel suggested ahead of the D.R. Congo game that Jarell Quansah and Reece James were “close” to making the squad on that occasion, and that they’d “be available very soon”.
Tuchel added that Quansah was the closer of the two to a comeback against D.R. Congo, so he’s probably the more likely to be available on Sunday night against Mexico (or 01:00 BST Monday morning for those back in England).
But after the D.R. Congo game, James told David Ornstein on his injury “it’s okay, I’m feeling good”. So with any luck, he’ll be back too.
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