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Boost for England as Luke Shaw returns to training

Luke Shaw is yet to make an appearance at Euro 2024
Luke Shaw is yet to make an appearance at Euro 2024

Luke Shaw returned to England training as all 26 players took part in a session on the eve of the Euro 2024 clash with Slovenia.

Gareth Southgate's side sit on four points following their opening two fixtures and face Slovenia in Cologne aiming to secure top spot in Group C.

Shaw has not been in action since suffering a hamstring injury playing for Manchester United in February but was a surprise inclusion in Southgate’s squad for the finals.

He has been working on an individual programme in an attempt to get match fit and was out on the grass with his team-mates at Spa & Golf Resort Weimarer Land, England’s training base.

Southgate has some selection headaches for the game in Cologne as he is still attempting to strike the right balance for his team.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has started both games in midfield but has struggled at times, while getting the best out of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane in the same XI is proving problematic.

There have been some calls for Kane to be dropped for the clash with Slovenia but former England captain Alan Shearer has said that the striker simply has to adapt his game.

Kane has been criticised for his performances in the opening two matches of the tournament in Germany, with former defender Stuart Pearce among those who think the record goalscorer should be left out of the final group game.

Shearer has been critical of the Bayern Munich striker's displays in but believes he should still be in the team and that the tactics must be tinkered with.

Kane, who scored in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Denmark to take his international tally to 64, has thrived at club level by having runners around him when he drops deep and Shearer said in The Athletic: "There is talk of Gareth Southgate leaving England’s all-time leading scorer out for the final group game against Slovenia on Tuesday.

Alan Shearer says Harry Kane should not be dropped

"I disagree with that view: don't leave him out. You cannot leave your captain and your main goalscorer out of the team.

"It is not a case of leaving Harry out. Instead, you get legs around him — runners off the ball. I don’t care how experienced you are, all players need a little bit of help now and again and I’m sure he and Gareth will have been analysing the performance since Thursday.

"Harry is brilliant at coming deep — he loves doing it — but he did it too much against Denmark. The issue is that he is coming into traffic and getting in the way of his own players when he does come into midfield areas.

"If he is going to drop deep, we know he needs runners ahead of him. How many times did we see him picking passes for Son Heung-min bursting beyond him in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt?

"The same has been true at Bayern Munich this season, with the best example being Alphonso Davies’ goal against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.

"This is why I think Anthony Gordon would be really good on the left side of the attack, with (Bukayo) Saka staying on the right.

"Then you have pace either side with both players who want to run in behind. It might suit Harry’s game more and create more balance in the team because Phil Foden is a fantastic player but he is so much more likely to drift inside and come towards the ball himself."

Watch every game from Euro 2024 on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player as well as highlights and goals as they happen on RTÉ Sport digital platforms.

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