Insider: Declan Rice on the ‘brink’ after West Ham setback confirmed
West Ham midfielder Declan Rice may be more vulnerable to illness because he is pushing his body “to the brink” for England.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Rice has started all four of England’s games at the World Cup and has been a key player for Gareth Southgate.
England confirmed on Wednesday (7 December) that the 23-year-old had missed training with an illness.
“Generally, throughout the tournament, there has been a lot of teams that have been affected [by illness],” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“It’s always going to be difficult with players all in close proximity of each other.
“You can understand at the beginning of the tournament with those climatic changes coming from the UK to Qatar.
“You also have the different intensities and pressures and all of these culminate and have an effect on the body.
“Fatigue also has an effect on the body’s ability to fight those little bugs, niggles and viruses that are floating around.
“Particularly, if you look at Declan Rice and his output and exercision. In terms of distance covered in those games, it is Declan Rice who covers the most kilometres.
“He’s really pushing himself to the brink of his physical limitations. All of that will have a knock-on effect.
“In terms of how players respond, how long is a piece of string?
“Is he going to miss the game? It’s highly unlikely.
“It’s purely a precautionary measure, you want to keep him away from the rest of the squad to try and isolate it. You don’t want it to spread to the rest of the players.
“The only slight concern would be him going into that game and not being 100 per cent, that would be the worry.
“He’s a big part of that engine room. It’s a huge game against France, without any question. To harbour any hopes of progressing, we’re going to need eight, nine or 10 players at their game to give us a fighting chance.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has tipped an “auction” for West Ham as the “deal of the century” is cited.