England’s Mount and Chilwell isolating after Scotland’s Gilmour tests positive

Gareth Southgate’s plans for England’s final Euro 2020 group phase tie against the Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday night were thrown into turmoil after two of his expected starters – Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount – were forced to self-isolate.

The Football Association took the measure as a precaution after the pair were deemed to have been in close contact with the Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour, who returned a positive Covid test on Monday morning. The contact is believed to have taken place in the Wembley tunnel after last Friday’s 0-0 draw. All three play their club football at Chelsea.

Related: Billy Gilmour tests positive for Covid and will miss Scotland group decider

“It would be something to do with chatting after the game but I have no idea of all the detail,” Southgate said. Mount was a certain starter for the Czech game and it is understood Southgate had been ready to bring in Chilwell for Luke Shaw at left-back.

England must beat the Czechs to advance as group winners but they will qualify even if they lose after Monday’s results went in their favour in terms of the third-placed finishers in other groups.

It was unclear on Monday night whether Chilwell and Mount would be cleared to play, having returned negative PCR tests on Sunday – along with the rest of the England squad – and negative lateral flow tests on Monday. The FA was in discussions with Public Health England about, as Southgate put it, “what would classify as being contact”, but the manager admitted that a change to his lineup was “looking a high possibility”.

If Chilwell cannot play, Shaw would be expected to start while Mount’s absence could open the door in midfield for Jude Bellingham, who briefly became the youngest player to feature at a European Championship when the 17-year-old came off the bench in England’s opening game against Croatia, which ended in a 1-0 win. Southgate is also to set to recall Kyle Walker at right-back and the fit-again Harry Maguire in central defence.

“We haven’t confirmed the team yet and we will wait until the morning when we are really clear on the final situation with the two boys [Chilwell and Mount] and where we stand,” Southgate said.

Gilmour has begun a 10-day period of isolation – a huge blow for Scotland for their must-win final group game against Croatia at Hampden Park on Tuesday night. On what had been only his third Scotland appearance, the 20-year-old gave a man-of-the-match performance against England as his country got a result to give them hope of a first ever qualification to the knockout rounds of a major tournament.

England take on the Czech Republic at Wembley to decide top spot in Group D, but both teams have already secured qualification for the last 16 thanks to Monday's Euro 2020 results elsewhere.

With Ukraine and Finland finishing third in their groups on three points, teams with four points on the board are now assured of reaching the knockout stages. This includes England, the Czechs, Group E leaders Sweden, Group F leaders France and Switzerland, who are guaranteed to finish as one of the best four third-placed teams.

The winner between Scotland and Croatia will qualify for the last 16, but both teams will be out in the event of a draw. Denmark have finished second in Group B and will play Wales in the last 16. Austria, the runners-up in Group C, will face Italy at Wembley.

Qualified for last 16: Italy*, Wales, Switzerland, Belgium*, Denmark, Netherlands*, Austria, England, Czech Republic, Sweden, France.
*Confirmed group winners

“Billy would have started the game and now he won’t,” the manager, Steve Clarke, said. “So it’s a chance for someone else to come into the team and make themselves a national hero. Billy’s upset, as you would expect. He’s asymptomatic. Today’s training was a little bit disrupted but the bulk of the work has been done over the pre-camp.”

The news of Gilmour’s positive test broke at 10.30am and it reached Southgate as he wrapped up his morning training session, in which all of his players had been involved. According to Southgate, the FA oversaw a “belt and braces” round of lateral flow tests for the squad – all of which were negative – and it was decided to remove Chilwell and Mount. “If there is any risk with these two players, then we’ve got to make sure we don’t put any other players at risk,” Southgate said.

It was unclear who flagged Chilwell and Mount as having been in close contact with Gilmour, with Southgate unable to say whether it was an independent observer at the game. Public Health England has made it clear that it was the FA’s decision to move Chilwell and Mount away from the squad.

“I can’t say it isn’t disruptive,” Southgate said. “We don’t really know at this point whether they might be OK for tomorrow or they could be out for 10 days so there are a lot of unknowns, frankly, at this moment in time.

“My biggest hope is for the two boys – that they’re not going to miss 10 days of a European Championship. That would be a massive blow for us, but for them as well.

“I’m not angry or pissed off, really, and certainly not with the players. Not with anybody. It’s just the fact of the world we’re living in at the moment.”

One of the strange things is that nobody in the Scotland squad has been deemed as a close contact of Gilmour and told to isolate. “I don’t want to cause a drama for Scotland but if you’re all in the dressing room together where does everything stand?” Southgate said.

“I really don’t know how all that works. All I know is that we are in the situation we’re in and we’re complying with Public Health England and there’s nothing else we can do. I don’t want to make life difficult for Steve [Clarke]. I want him to do well, he’s a great guy.”

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The biggest fear is that the virus can take a short while to grip after the initial exposure. “We know these things can appear four or five days down the line so that’s what we’ve been living with all year in a football sense,” Southgate said.

“We’ve been living on edge with that. As yet, we haven’t had a positive test in one of our camps but we know there’s an element of good fortune within that. Every round of testing … you’re waiting and wondering if you’re going to have to make a change to your team and this is the first time it’s happened to us.”