Gareth Southgate says England “didn’t want to take any chances” with Kieran Trippier after he was taken off during their semi-final win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.
The Newcastle United defender, 33, was replaced at half-time of the 2-1 victory in Dortmund and replaced by Luke Shaw.
Trippier has had his workload managed throughout the tournament and had been taken off before full-time in each of England’s last three games.
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Shaw hadn’t played since February as he worked his way back to full fitness following a hamstring injury before returning in the quarter-final win over Switzerland on Saturday.
Asked about Trippier’s condition after the match, Southgate said: “Not sure. We didn’t want to take any chances.
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“We had it in our minds that we would bring Luke into the game at some point. It was better to bring him into the game than to start the game and not be able to finish it.
“We’ll have to see how Tripps is. He’s been an absolute soldier for us. To fill in the way he has, on the wrong side of the pitch, with the injuries he’s had coming into the tournament, is exceptional.”
Southgate made the bold call to take captain Harry Kane and Phil Foden off with the scores tied with 10 minutes to go.
Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer replaced them and went on to reward the manager’s faith by combining for the 90th-minute winner.
“Harry took quite a big knock when he won the penalty,” Southgate revealed after when asked about the decision. “Him and Phil were playing well, but we were losing a bit of energy under pressure.
“We certainly weren’t taking Phil off because of his performance. We wanted to make that gamble in normal time rather than in extra time. Haven’t been in extra time twice we didn’t want to go through that again.”
(Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)