Declan Rice makes feelings on Jude Bellingham absence clear after England win
Jude Bellingham may have been absent as England hammered Wales 3-0 on Thursday night but Declan Rice hopes to see the Real Madrid midfielder back sooner rather than later
Declan Rice admitted England have missed Jude Bellingham following their 3-0 win over Wales on Thursday night, with the Three Lions' stand-in captain expecting to see the Real Madrid star back in Thomas Tuchel's squad next month.
The omission of Bellingham, 22, was the major talking point of Tuchel's squad for this month's international double-header against Wales and Latvia. Bellingham has only featured a handful of times for Real Madrid since undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer, with Tuchel instead opting to stick with the same core of players who impressed during September's international break.
Bellingham is widely regarded as one of England's most important players, however, Tuchel insisted there were no guarantees for anybody when it comes to places in the squad for next year's World Cup. And while England impressed again without Bellingham, Rice has implied that he expects to see him and other top players such as Phil Foden and Cole Palmer back in the fold next month.
“I think every time you play for England, you want to grab the shirt, you want to grab your chance,” Rice said on Thursday night. “But we do miss Jude, for sure. We miss Phil, we miss Cole, we miss loads of players for reasons that the manager’s obviously said.
“We are obviously an unreal team, and they’re in the team as well. Let’s not get away from that. What they’ve done in an England shirt is incredible. We’re looking forward to having them back next camp, hopefully.
“As a team, we want to keep integrating everyone as much as possible before the World Cup. I think that’s the most important thing, and we’ve done that in the past.”
While Rice expects Bellingham to return for the November fixtures, Morgan Rogers scored and impressed in the No 10 role that Bellingham often occupies. And he was singled out for praise post-match by Tuchel, who stressed before the game that he was not interested in "collecting the most talented players" because "teams win trophies, no-one else".
“Morgan is what he is. He is a number 10 and he is competing for his place. He is in a good way,” Tuchel said of the Aston Villa star to ITV Sport.
“We are ready for any team effort. Serbia was the next example of teamwork. We created a lot of chances. We could use Harry Kane all the time, but we need to play without Harry and Jude - the guys are injured.”
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