England lost a qualifying game for the first time in 10 years in Prague and saw an opportunity to secure early qualification to Euro 2020 go with it. The chance to seal their place at the final tournament with games to spare is still there on Monday, but only if they can bounce back to win against Bulgaria in Sofia and Kosovo fail to beat Montenegro at home.
Mings, who was called up for the first time for the last international break but failed to get on the pitch, has made a strong start to the season with Aston Villa and is set to be rewarded as he prepares to make his debut in place of the underperforming Keane.
A report from Sky Sports describes the 26-year-old defender as ‘likely’ to play.
Meanwhile, The Sun specifically claim it is Keane he will replace to start alongside Harry Maguire, with Gareth Southgate making changes in both full-backs roles. That would mean Trippier and Rose, the latter of whom didn’t play well against Czech Republic, dropping out and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Leicester’s Ben Chilwell coming into the side instead.
It suggests that Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori may have to wait for his England debut after being called into the senior squad for the first time, unless he is needed from the bench.
England's stars have already faced racism during this qualifying campaign when they played against Montenegro, and forward Tammy Abraham recently confirmed the players are prepared to walk off the pitch if they experience it in Sofia after discussing the issue as a squad.
The Bulgarian association later angrily responded to comments on the subject, insisting that people in Bulgaria were unjustly being portrayed as racists and troublemakers.
One can only hope the game is played without any such problems.
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Source : 90min