Tuchel: England must 'take care' of Bukayo Saka's fitness during World Cup, reveals March camp injury

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Thomas Tuchel has said England are having to carefully monitor Bukayo Saka's fitness after the Arsenal winger carried an Achilles problem during the final two months of the domestic season.

Saka was forced to withdraw from England's friendlies in March due to the issue and he was able to start just five matches in the Gunners' run-in, completing 90 minutes just once.

The Arsenal quartet of Saka, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze were given an extended break following their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and joined up with the England squad in Palm Beach Gardens last weekend.

Speaking ahead of England's final public warm-up match will take place against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, Tuchel said: "We still have to take care a little bit about Bukayo, who had an injury in the March camp and carried it through, of course, into his club campaign.

"He was available and made himself available in the end of the season, and did this brilliantly, but he was managed in-between matches and that continues a little bit at the very moment, so we're building him up.

"Noni [Madueke] is 100% available, Declan [Rice] is 100% available and Ebs [Eze] as well.

"Everyone was involved in training, including Bukayo. Everyone made himself available, so we have a full choice and we need to take the decisions now in the afternoon who actually starts, and how many minutes we will give to the players. But they came in a very good spirit and they came in very good shape."

Arsenal won their first Premier League title in 22 years and narrowly missed out on their first Champions League trophy in a penalty shootout loss to PSG.

"I feel them proud, I feel them confident," Tuchel said of the Arsenal contingent.

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"They know what they did, they know what it took them to win the title in England.

"They had this little period where suddenly it was in doubt and they overcame it and managed to win the title.

"It meant a lot to them and I think they have a clear understanding that they go toe to toe the best team in the world at the moment with Paris, and they had them, and they just lost in a penalty shootout. They came in best spirits and I'm happy for that."

Tuchel plans for his starting lineup to play "60-70 minutes" in Orlando while the rest of the squad will feature more prominently in a behind-closed-doors game against Miami United on Thursday.