2026-06-22 11:33:59
Declan Rice has been struggling with nerve pain since Christmas.
The midfielder was taken off the pitch in the second half of England’s World Cup game against Croatia last week but he has branded the substitution “smart” as it will help preserve his fitness for the rest of the tournament following his ongoing struggles.
He told ITV Sport: “I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time.
“Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70‑minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Declan blamed his “obscene” schedule – which has seen him play 55 games for Arsenal after they reached the finals in both the Champions League and Carabao Cup – and eight for England – for his fitness struggles, but knows he will get a “break” eventually.
He said: “It’s an obscene amount of games. The schedule was crazy but what can we do about it? You can’t sit and complain.
“We have to just get on with it for the moments like I had in the Premier League, winning that Premier League. You know you’d play as many games as possible to have that feeling again and knowing that there’s a World Cup at the end of it as well.
“You know you’d put your body on the line to be always in to play. It’s a lot of games but we’ll get our break at the end.”
Teammate Bukayo Saka has been managing an achilles problem and came on as a substitute against Croatia. He’s also not expected to start against Ghana and Declan thinks coach Thomas Tuchel and his staff have taken the right approach with the winger, who has been on an individual training programme.
He said: “Bukayo will impact this tournament.
“It’s really good the way we’re managing him. I think the amount of football he’s played – I’ve seen him at Arsenal – this little achilles problem he’s got. I think we’re managing him the right way, for sure.
“I don’t think you want to put him in straight away and put him at risk. We need to keep building him in. He’s been training really well. He came on and had an amazing impact the other night.
“He’s one of the biggest game players I’ve played with and he wants to play every game. But here he’s being smart. And we also have Noni who, for me, has been unbelievable.”
Visit Bang Premier (main website)
