Euro 2020: England’s Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell must self-isolate in blow to Southgate’s plans

England manager Gareth Southgate’s plans for Euro 2020 have been rocked by the news Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell have to self-isolate.

The Scotland FA announced earlier that Billy Gilmour must quarantine for 10 days after testing positive for Covid following the draw against England on Friday night.

Gilmour’s Chelsea colleagues Mount, who played the entire 90 minutes of the Wembley clash, and Chilwell, who was an unused substitute, were photographed standing next to the Scot after the game.

And the England pair are now required to self-isolate, which could prevent them from participating in tonight’s final group game versus Czech Republic.

They could also be forced to miss the start of the knockout stages which start next week, while Public Health England have been in contact with the FA over the issue. 

Speaking about the two players on Monday night at a press conference, Southgate said of their availability: ‘We don’t know. There’s obviously got to be quite a doubt but there are still discussions and investigations behind the scenes. At the moment they’re isolating and we’ll find out over the next 12 hours or so.

England stars Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell must self-isolate after being recorded with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour on Friday

Mount embraced Chelsea colleague Gilmour – who has now tested positive for Covid-19 – after the draw at Wembley 

Mount and Chilwell were among the full England squad to return to training on Monday but both now could be unavailable

England manager Gareth Southgate’s plans for Euro 2020 have been rocked by the news that two players must self-isolate

‘We’re abiding by the regulations and that’s why the two boys have to isolate until we know where we stand. 

‘We worked with the players on the training pitch this morning and then found out about the situation. We don’t know at this point, there are a lot of unknowns at this moment in time. We’ll wait until the morning to find out where we stand.

‘I don’t know all the factors behind that. It’s nothing to do with being on the pitch, that’s why there’s no issue with teams training. We’re just waiting to hear more information. I have no idea about the process of what happens. Our medical people are dealing with all of this, I’m being updated about this as regularly as possible, every hour or so, we have to accept whatever the situation is and adapt to it.’

On the testing situation, meanwhile, the England boss revealed: ‘We had PCR tests, mandatory pre-game tests yesterday and we followed that today after the Scotland situation developed to make sure people can eat and travel together.’ 

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, the FA said: ‘As a precaution at this time and in consultation with Public Health England [PHE], Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount are isolating after interaction with Scotland player Billy Gilmour at Friday’s match.

‘The pair will be kept away from the rest of the England players and wider support team, pending further discussions with PHE.

‘The entire squad had lateral flow tests on Monday afternoon and all were again negative, as was the case with Sunday’s UEFA pre-match PCR tests.

‘We will continue to follow all Covid-19 protocols and the UEFA testing regime, while remaining in close contact with PHE.’

The news does come after all 26 players of Southgate’s England squad trained together on Monday after each returned negative Covid-19 tests. 

Similarly, the 25 remaining players in the Scotland squad were not deemed close contacts with Gilmour and therefore also all trained together on Monday, after returning negative lateral-flow tests.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson, earlier on Monday, deleted a video of himself playing table tennis with Glimour and John McGinn. 

Soon after news broke of Gilmour’s positive test on Monday morning, a clip surfaced from the team hotel where the young midfielder is seen enjoying some ping-pong. 

Gilmour (right) was named man-of-the-match after the draw at Wembley and his absence is a huge blow for Scotland

Chilwell is yet to feature at Euro 2020 but his possible absence is still a blow to Southgate’s defensive options

Taken on Robertson’s Instagram story, the video shows Gilmour, along with McGinn, unwinding with a game in the team hotel. 

The video has since been removed from the Liverpool full-back’s Instagram account, with man-of-the-match from Friday night Gilmour definitely out of the Scots’ do-or-die encounter against Croatia at Hampden Park. 

But the latest news is a tough pill for England boss Southgate to swallow as he readies his side for tomorrow night’s final Group D clash against the Czechs.  

Mount has been a key part of Southgate’s team so far, with the Champions League-winning Chelsea attacking midfielder having started the win against Croatia and the draw versus Scotland. 

Chilwell, however, has not yet featured on the pitch, with Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw preferred at left back in the first two games.  

With the last-16 starting on Saturday and ending next Tuesday, Mount and Chilwell are also in danger of missing the start of the knockout-phase, should they have to self-isolate for 10 days. 

Gilmour’s positive test is the second to hit the Scotland camp since the squad met up earlier this month.

Sheffield United midfielder John Fleck sat out both of the Scots’ warm-up fixtures against Holland and Luxembourg after contracting the virus.

Meanwhile, fans took to Twitter to react to the news that England’s players would not receive extra testing despite being on the same pitch as Gilmour on Friday night. 

Gilmour’s mother Carrie was in attendance at Wembley to celebrate his performance against England last Friday

Twitter user Stuart Graham said: ‘So I’m really confused, if a pupil in my daughters class “bubble” tests positive for Covid then the whole class will isolate, yet Billy Gilmour tests positive yet Scottish team don’t have to self-isolate.’

Another tweeted: ‘I’m honestly baffled with this Covid-19 nonsense, how can they say no one is considered as a close contact to Billy Gilmour when all the players shared the same dressing room etc – totally f***ed up.’ 

And a third added: ‘So Billy Gilmour has to isolate but the entire team, whom he has been in very close contact with, don’t. Yeah, right, that makes perfect sense. If a kid in class tests positive the whole class are sent home. Get an effin grip. It’s all utter nonsense.’

All Euro 2020 teams are living in a bubble and avoiding all contact with the public for the duration of their involvement in the tournament. Players are having regular PCR tests – with everyone getting tested 48 hours before every match as per UEFA regulations – and their temperatures are taken when they arrive at stadiums. 

Any player, coach or official who returns a positive result is immediately removed from the group and quarantined, followed by universal testing of the entire squad and any known contacts. 

Opposition players are not deemed close contacts unless they spend an extended period of time with the positive player – which Chilwell and Mount were with Gilmour on Friday night.

Guidance from England’s FA states match play is not considered ‘close contact’ so no action is needed unless individuals experience symptoms, in which case they must self-isolate from that point as per Government guidance.