Update on Reds quartet ahead of Monday's games

Gareth Southgate has delivered a positive bulletin on the fitness of defenders Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, who both missed the end of the domestic campaign due to injury.

Shaw has been out since February's win at Luton Town, while Maguire was absent after the draw with Burnley in April, as the pair missed our Emirates FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

However, they made the preliminary Three Lions squad ahead of Euro 2024, and remain hopeful of taking part in the tournament.

England face Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James' Park in Newcastle tonight (Monday, 19:45 BST kick-off) but Kobbie Mainoo will also not be involved, after his exertions against the Blues.

Southgate also admitted neither Shaw nor Maguire are likely to play in Friday's Wembley encounter with Iceland, despite having faith they could appear in the finals in Germany.

"He’s progressing very well, I have to say,” Southgate replied to talkSPORT, when asked about Shaw's situation. "I think I said last week that, until we had the players in front of us working with us, there was a lot of information that we didn’t have.

"We’re pleased with how he’s progressing. There’s still a bit to do before he can get on the pitch in a game situation but I'm really pleased with the work he’s doing with our physical performance team and our medics, so, yeah, he’s in with a good chance.

"Clearly, he’s a specialist left-back that’s an incredibly high-level player as well, so you’re more likely to take a chance on a player that’s been a regular starter that we think can really add to the starting XI. But there’s a knock-on, there’s an impact to all of those decisions and that’s why we’ve got to look at the full picture and not just each individual."

Maguire should be able to take his place at the heart of the defence at some point, with England due to meet Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in Group C.

"Again, he’s progressing well,” Southgate continued. "He won’t be involved [against Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Unlikely, I would say, for next Friday [against Iceland].  But, yeah, each couple of days that passes, we’ve got a little bit more information on how they’re progressing and how likely that is and the likely return date."

Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has revealed that Scott McTominay will not play against Gibraltar in the 17:00 BST kick-off.

The Reds midfielder suffered an injury during the cup-final victory over City and, although McTominay, Stuart Armstrong and John Souttar are all missing, Clarke declared that he is "pretty confident" in their availability for Friday's clash against Finland at Hampden Park.

Our homegrown talent was a key figure for the Scots during qualifying, scoring seven times, and should prove important to his nation's hopes of progressing, as they face hosts Germany in the opener a week on Friday, before tackling Switzerland and Hungary.