England fans will be sleeping a little easier tonight after some genuinely good news coming out of the Three Lions camp. Declan Rice, Marc Guehi and Reece James have all trained ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Norway, and if you're an England supporter, that is about as welcome a sight as you're going to get at this stage of the tournament.
Rice is arguably the most important player in this England squad. There, it's been said. You can make arguments for others, but the way he controls the tempo of a game, breaks up play and then drives forward is something England simply don't have a like-for-like replacement for. Losing him at a quarter-final stage would have been a nightmare scenario, so seeing him out on the training pitch is a massive relief.
Guehi has quietly been one of England's most consistent defenders throughout the tournament. He doesn't shout about it, he just gets on with the job, which is exactly what you want from a centre-back at a World Cup. Alongside him, Reece James offers something different down the right — genuine quality in both boxes and the kind of delivery that can unlock any defence on his day.
Now, training the day before a game doesn't guarantee anyone starts, and it certainly doesn't mean they're all fully fit and firing. England's medical staff will know more than anyone about the actual state of these lads, and the management team will have to make a sensible call about whether it's worth risking any of them if they're not at a hundred percent. A quarter-final against Norway is massive, but you don't want to throw someone into a game half-fit and watch them pick up something worse.
Norway are not a team to be taken lightly either. Erling Haaland alone makes them dangerous on any given day, and England will need every bit of quality available to them if they want to reach the semi-finals. Having Rice, Guehi and James available — even if just as options — gives the manager genuine flexibility and depth.
England look in decent shape heading into this one. Let me know your thoughts.