Why is Declan Rice not playing for England against Panama?

Declan Rice is only on the bench for England against Panama tonight.

The Three Lions star, who has started both of his nation’s games at the World Cup so far, has been replaced by Morgan Rogers.

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Why is Declan Rice not playing for England?

Rice missed training on Thursday after being spotted limping out of the stadium following England’s 0-0 draw with Ghana.

He was seen with strapping around his calf post-match last week and is understood to have undergone an assessment.

The Arsenal midfielder did train on Friday following that, however, he has been deemed not fit enough to start against Panama.

Rice admitted earlier this week that he had also been suffering from nerve pain in his hamstring since December.

His confirmation of an injury worry came after he struggled off the pitch with a knock in England’s opener against Croatia.

Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel said ahead of the clash with Panama on Saturday that Rice’s issues were only ‘minor’.

And he also said the same of Elliot Anderson’s problem, but Anderson has started the game and Rice has not.

Tuchel revealed on Friday: “Anderson and Rice were training today.

“They had minor issues after the match [against Ghana], but they had enough time to recover.”

But Tuchel clearly believed Anderson was in a fitter state than Rice, shuffling his team around to replace the latter.

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Jude Bellingham started in a deeper role, with Rogers coming in for Rice and playing behind Harry Kane.

Bellingham joined Anderson in midfield, while Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford took their places out wide.

In total, Tuchel made five changes to his side following the goalless draw against Ghana earlier this week.

Saka, Rashford and Rogers came in, along with Jarell Quansah, who replaced the injured Reece James at right-back.

Nico O’Reilly returned to the team in place of Djed Spence too.

England are hoping to secure a top spot finish in Group L with a win against already-eliminated Panama.