England manager Gareth Southgate has confessed he must assess the mental health of both Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell after their ten-day isolation period before they will be allowed to return to the team.
Monday is Mount and Chilwell's final day in isolation following their close contact with Scotland's Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for COVID-19, but the pair have been working on their fitness in the hope that they will be able to play in Tuesday's Euro 2020 last-16 game against Germany.
Southgate is keen for the pair to play some role in the game, with Mount understood to be the main focus of his concern, but the boss confessed that he must make sure they are in a good place mentally before they are thrown back into the spotlight.
“It’s been quite complicated,” Southgate told ITV (via The Times). “In the main they’ve had to work entirely on their own.
“They’ve been able to work in very small, well-distanced group sessions but not with the full group and they haven’t been able to take part in any of the full team training sessions. The guidance from Public Health England has been very clear, very specific and we’ve had to follow that.
“There’s not only the training part of that but the psychological part of that [that we have to take into account]. They’ve had to spend a lot of time in a room on their own, so it’s a very difficult situation for the two boys.
“You come to a major tournament, you want to be a part of everything and they’ve had to isolate through this period which is, of course, difficult for anybody.
"They come out of the full quarantine at midnight the night before the game, so we’ll be able to talk to them a little bit more than we are at the moment.
"I’m having to redo the meetings that I have with the rest of the team over a Zoom call with them.”
England officials had been trying to find a way to allow the Chelsea duo, who have repeatedly tested negative for the virus, to return to socially distanced training with the full squad, but they have instead been forced to remain on their own.
Nevertheless, The Guardian recently revealed that Mount is adamant he is prepared enough to play against Germany, and that sentiment was also backed up by Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire.
"Well for sure (Mount is) a fit lad, he's been doing work from a distance and working away from the group,' Maguire told ITV. "It's (been) disappointing but I'm sure they'll be available for the game.
"I'm sure they've been doing a lot of running as well because there's not much you can do when you're working on your own. (Mount's) fitness will be there for sure. I hope he's going to be available because he's a big part of of the team and so is Ben as well.
"It's been disappointing for (them). We had to make sure we won the game against Czech Republic to put a smile on their faces. I'm sure they were cheering and kicking every ball watching it on TV."
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Source : 90min