England suffered a Euro 2020 blow on Monday as Chelsea duo Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were forced to self-isolate following contact with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour, who has tested positive for Covid-19. England’s 26-man squad all returned negative results after the news of Gilmour’s positive test broke earlier on Monday.
But Mount and Chilwell are likely to miss England’s Group D clash with the Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday as a result of their contact with Gilmour. Chelsea team-mates Mount and Gilmour were on opposing sides in England’s 0-0 draw against Scotland on Friday, while their club colleague Chilwell was an unused substitute.
Mount and Chilwell were photographed standing next to Gilmour after the game.
The English Football Association are in discussions with health authorities over whether the pair can face the Czechs, as well as their availability for the last 16.
Gilmour has been ruled out of Scotland’s must-win match against Croatia in Glasgow on Tuesday.
“As a precaution at this time and in consultation with Public Health England (PHE), Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount are isolating after interaction with Scotland player Billy Gilmour at Friday’s match,” an FA statement said.
“The pair will be kept away from the rest of the England players and wider support team, pending further discussions with PHE.
“The entire squad had lateral flow tests on Monday afternoon and all were again negative, as was the case with Sunday’s UEFA pre-match PCR tests.
“We will continue to follow all Covid-19 protocols and the UEFA testing regime, while remaining in close contact with PHE.”
Mount had been due to appear at the pre-match press conference alongside England boss Gareth Southgate, but the midfielder was withdrawn from his media duties.
Asked if the pair will be available for the Czech game, Southgate told reporters: “We don’t know at the moment.
“There’s obviously got to be quite a doubt but there’s still a lot of discussions and investigations going on behind the scenes.
“So at the moment they’re isolating and we just have to find out over the last 12 hours or so.”