Luke Shaw Still Absent From British Exercise Ahead Of The Second Match Against Denmark

Luke Shaw watches from the stands with his girlfriend, Anouska Santos. (photo: x @teamshaw_23)

JAKARTA The England left-back, Luke Shaw, is still absent from the team's training session on Wednesday, June 19. This dealt a major blow to coach Gareth Southgate ahead of the group's second match against Denmark. Shaw, who is the only pure left-back in the squad, has not played since February due to a hamstring injury.

Despite being elected to the Euro 2024 squad in Germany, hopes that Shaw can return to play against Denmark on Thursday seem to be getting thinner as he has not yet joined the team's training, just a day before the important match. On the other hand, Shaw is still following a separate individual training program from the first team.

Shaw's absence at this training session raises great questions about his fitness for the rest of the tournament. He also did not take part in training with players who did not play after England's opening match against Serbia. In fact, he could only watch England's inaugural match from the stands with his girlfriend, Anouska Santos.

Southgate previously provided a positive update on Shaw's fitness, saying that "all the players are available" and that there is a possibility Shaw could be used from the bench. However, with Shaw's absence from this latest training session, the hope is running low.

In the match against Serbia, Kieran Trippier is relied on to fill the left-back position and will most likely continue to fill the position against Denmark. In addition to Shaw, England also suffered several other injury problems, such as Harry Maguire who was sidelined with a calf injury, as well as Lewis Dunk and John Stones who suffered injuries in a warm-up match against Iceland.

Shaw, who has earned 31 caps for England since his debut in 2014, scored the opener in England's Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy. Shaw's absence is certainly an additional challenge for Southgate in his team's efforts to achieve success at Euro 2024.