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English U21 coach Lee Carsley has given an update on Curtis Jones’ fitness. The midfielder was absent from the 2-2 draw against Slovenia on Thursday due to an injury.
Carsley took over as U21 manager in July, with Jones included in each of his first two squads as long as he continues to make his mark for Liverpool.
The 20-year-old has already played six games for the U21s, six this season for the Reds, but has yet to play under England’s new youth coach.
A COVID-19 outbreak resulted in the cancellation of the clash with Romania last month, while Jones was expelled from the subsequent meeting with Kosovo due to a suspension.
The midfielder has now missed the first U21 European Championship qualifier of the October break because he sustained a groin injury, which also makes him doubt about the clash with Andorra on Monday.
Prior to the trip to Andorra la Vella, Carsley insisted that he and his staff will “take no chances” with the fitness of Liverpool’s No. 17.
“We’ll wait and see how he reacts this morning, he’ll be treated again. We’re definitely not going to take any chances, ”he said.
“We’ll judge Curtis and make that decision a little later.”
The suggestion, therefore, is that Jones is unlikely to be involved against Andorra and with less than a week until Liverpool return at Watford it will be an issue for Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp has called Jones on his starting line-up for each of the last four games, with impressive performances against Norwich, Brentford, Porto and Man City in which he scored once and assisted three times.
It remains to be seen whether Thiago will be fit for the Vicarage Road duel again, but Fabinho is already excluded as he won’t be back in time from the Brazilian World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.
Harvey Elliott is also out. If Trent Alexander-Arnold is still out, James Milner could not be available in midfield as he will continue to represent the right-back.
The worst-case scenario is that Liverpool would be without Jones.
Jones isn’t the only injury concern that surfaced in the early days of the international break as Diogo Jota is still training with Portugal due to a muscle problem.
