Fears 'growing' for the 'safety' of England's players ahead of North Macedonia clash

Fears are starting to grow over the safety of England’s players ahead of their clash against North Macedonia.

On Monday night, England will end their Euro 2024 qualification with an away clash against North Macedonia at the National Arena Todor Proeski Stadium.

Gareth Southgate’s men are already through as the winners of Group C after their recent 2-0 victory against Malta.

Ahead of the match against North Macedonia, there are concerns over the state of the pitch which will leave England players' respective clubs sweating.

The turf in the National Arena Todor Proeski Stadium was only relaid six weeks ago and Italy striker Ciro Immobile described the pitch as 'dangerous' back in September.

In a pre-match press conference, Southgate admitted clubs will be worried about their players’ fitness amid injury concerns.

He said: “There will be that without a pitch (issue) or not! No, we wouldn’t take any chances with players. I know they’ve relaid it. I would imagine it hasn’t quite knitted, but we’ll see.

“That’s why you want to make sure you’re qualified well in advance. We said that right at the start of the qualifying campaign, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get away from home.”

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Southgate continued: “We play a team who, although they can't qualify, have tremendous pride and they’ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester.

“We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. We’ve had a calendar year where we've been very good, so we want to finish well.”

After Keiran Trippier returned to Newcastle United, Southgate was asked about the lack of options at left-back.

The England boss replied: “Rico is an option. He’s a versatile player. I’m really pleased with how he’s trained, he’s settled really well. He’s very comfortable with the ball.

“He’s played there a few times. He’s played everywhere for City. Him and Cole Palmer are here because we believe in them and we wouldn’t hesitate to put him in.”

Southgate added: “Sometimes with young players it’s great for their development to play different positions and in a couple of years maybe that will be a little bit clearer.”