Declan Rice has insisted he is fit and ready for England's World Cup knockout stages, declaring himself unafraid to take a penalty if required – and claiming his teammates share the same fearless attitude.
The Arsenal midfielder sat out England's final group match against Panama, fuelling concerns over a series of niggles that have plagued his tournament. Rice has been managing a calf injury, back problems and hamstring issues, even wearing special compression socks to ease the strain. The uncertainty over his fitness cast a shadow over one of England's most important players.
“Declan Rice insists he is fit for England's World Cup knockout campaign and says he is ready to take a penalty if needed.”
But Rice, speaking ahead of the last-32 tie with DR Congo, was emphatic that he is in good shape. 'I'm good, genuinely, I'm good,' he said. 'I know there's been one niggle over my hamstring, which has been an issue, but that's not a problem because I'm still here training, I'm playing. I'm fine.'
He explained that a dead calf suffered in the final minute of the Ghana game – when an opponent's tackle caused it to 'blow up for like three days' – was simply bad luck rather than a recurring problem. 'It wasn't actually a calf problem,' he added.
Rice admitted that resting at the end of the club season may have triggered a flare-up of an issue he has managed since Christmas. After playing the Champions League final, he took a week completely off his feet, which he said gave his body 'a little bit of a shock' and caused pain to resurface. 'It's just something I've got to keep managing,' he said.
Nevertheless, he is confident he will be fit for the start of next season and that the issue is not long-term. 'Once this season's done, I'll get my rest and I'm sure next season I'll go into it fine,' he said.
With knockout football approaching, Rice also revealed his readiness for potential penalty shootouts. He said he is not afraid to take a spot-kick, and insisted his England teammates feel the same way.
'I want to play every match, but for the good of the team – I don't mind missing out the odd game just for other players to play,' he said. 'I'm fine with that, as long as we keep going and winning matches.'