The final international break of the season is underway, which means one thing in Fantasy Premier League: flags. Lots and lots of flags.
The injury-related withdrawals have begun in earnest, and we’ll be tracking them over the next week on this page.
We’ll run daily updates in this article, detailing the latest concerns.
TUESDAY 26 MARCH
John Stones (£5.3m) and Andrew Robertson (£6.4m) were notable casualties from Tuesday evening’s matches.
Stones lasted just 10 minutes of England’s clash with Belgium before being substituted with an adductor injury, while Robertson suffered an ankle issue in Scotland’s defeat to Northern Ireland.
“He’s just come off the pitch, let the injury take its course. He’ll go back to his club and they’ll assess it and hopefully it’s not too serious.” – Steve Clarke on Andrew Robertson
“It seems to be in the adductor area. We’ll just have to see.
“John also came in on the back of not having played for two weeks so it wasn’t an overload situation. But I hate sending players back to their clubs if they’re not fully fit, of course.” – Gareth Southgate on John Stones
Elsewhere, reports suggest Lewis Miley (£4.5m) could be out for “weeks” after he suffered a back problem while away with the England Under-20 squad.
Martin Dubravka (£4.2m) returned home early from Slovakia duty only because of personal reasons, however.
Luton Town’s Mr Versatile, Chiedozie Ogbene (£4.9m), was ruled out of the Republic of Ireland’s friendly with Switzerland.
Ireland said in a statement that he “misses out through injury and has returned to his club”.
Manuel Akanji (£4.9m) also sat out that match with a “knock”.
George Baldock (£3.8m) will have to be assessed after hobbling out of Greece’s clash with Georgia.
SUNDAY 24 MARCH
There was a trio of withdrawals from the England squad on Sunday.
Kyle Walker (£5.4m), Harry Maguire (£4.2m) and Sam Johnstone (£4.4m) are the latest to exit the Three Lions’ camp.
Walker suffered what seemed to be a hamstring injury in Saturday’s loss to Brazil (see below), while Maguire also came off midway through the second half of that game.
We’ve yet to learn the full details of Maguire’s injury.
Reports on Monday suggest Johnstone could be struggling to play again this season. If true, that would hand a first-team reprieve to Dean Henderson (£4.4m) ahead of Crystal Palace’s Double Gameweek 34.
SATURDAY 23 MARCH
Kyle Walker (£5.4m) will need to be assessed after he suffered hamstring tightness in England’s defeat to Brazil on Saturday night.
Walker lasted just 20 minutes of the contest at Wembley before being replaced.
“We don’t know yet. He is feeling something but he is not a player that is injured very often so he is not quite certain what it is so we will have to assess it over the next couple of days.” – Gareth Southgate on Kyle Walker
Cole Palmer (£5.7m) has returned to training after missing the loss to Brazil with a minor fitness issue.
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest’s Willy Boly (£4.5m) was taken off after 40 minutes of Ivory Coast’s draw with Benin.
FRIDAY 22 MARCH
Cole Palmer (£5.7m) will miss Saturday’s friendly with Brazil due to injury.
It is the first of two home friendlies for England, with a game against Belgium to follow on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow no Harry Kane, no Jordan Henderson, no Cole Palmer.
“I would say Cole and Hendo have a better chance of Belgium than Harry. He would be extremely doubtful for that.” – Gareth Southgate
Meanwhile, Chelsea team-mate Malo Gusto (£4.2m) will miss France under 23s’ upcoming friendly matches against the Ivory Coast and the United States after coming down with a virus.
Bournemouth’s Luis Sinisterra (£5.5m) has picked up a hamstring injury while away with Colombia. He’ll be out for 4-5 weeks at least.
THURSDAY 21 MARCH
Bukayo Saka (£9.1m) has withdrawn from the England squad.
The Football Association said that the winger has “returned to his club for continued rehabilitation” after reporting to St George’s Park with an injury that has left him “unable to participate in training”.
Football London, and others, suggest that a “minor muscle injury” is to blame.
Erling Haaland (£14.3m) has allayed fears over his fitness, saying he is “ready” to feature for Norway on Friday.
Footage from Norway’s training session on Monday seemed to show Haaland walking gingerly.
But the Manchester City striker was unequivocal about his availability.
“I feel good and am ready to play the match. I’m feeling fine. I didn’t walk off the training. I don’t know who wrote that. I trained a full training session. [Pep said], ‘If one of you comes back not fresh, I will come after you’.” – Erling Haaland
Elsewhere, Matty Cash (£4.6m) lasted only 10 minutes of Poland’s Euro 2024 play-off semi-final before hobbling off.
A hamstring injury is being reported.
“It’s probably a little worse for Matty. We will make a decision later with your doctor.” – Poland boss Michal Probierz
The player himself has hinted that he’s now out of Poland’s next match against Wales on Tuesday.
EARLY WITHDRAWALS
Before the international action had even started, we were met by several withdrawals.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m) is arguably the most noteworthy from a Fantasy perspective: he was removed from Brazil duty as a precaution.
Media reports suggest it is a minor Achilles tendon injury.
Darwin Nunez (£7.5m), who suffered hamstring discomfort in Sunday’s thriller at Old Trafford, has also exited the Uruguay camp.
A minor knee injury keeps Mohammed Kudus (£6.9m) out of Ghana’s friendlies. It’s not clear whether Michail Antonio‘s (£5.7m) withdrawal from the Jamaica squad is injury-related, however.
Luton’s Teden Mengi (£3.9m) withdrew from the England under-21 squad on Wednesday.
The likes of Gabriel Martinelli (£7.7m), Marcos Senesi (£4.5m), Ederson (£5.5m), Altay Bayindir (£4.0m), Casemiro (£5.3m) and Jonny Evans (£4.0m) were already injured ahead of Gameweek 29 and failed to recover for national team duty.
Sven Botman (£4.5m), who hadn’t been called up by the Netherlands, has been ruled out for 6-9 months with a knee injury.
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