SAKA BATTLING TO BE FIT FOR OPENER

BUKAYO SAKA is pushing to be fit for England’s crunch World Cup opener with Croatia on Wednesday night.

- FROM JOHN CROSS in Kansas City

Arsenal winger Saka was only a substitute in England’s final friendly against Costa Rica because of an ongoing Achilles issue.

England boss Thomas Tuchel revealed Saka has not been able to train every day, has been playing through the pain barrier, and that they have had to monitor his fitness closely.

However, Saka (above) is still working hard to push to be ready for what is a crunch game for England as it is arguably the hardest game of the group and may define their progress.