Phillips confident Rice will be fit for England's World Cup showdown against France but Man City man vows to step up if needed
- Rice missed training on Wednesday
- Phillips replaced him against Wales
- Man City player confident Rice will be fit
WHAT HAPPENED? Rice was absent from training on Wednesday due to illness, leading to concerns that he may not be available for the tie with France on Saturday. Phillips, who replaced Rice in the second half of England's group stage win against Wales, says that he will be ready to step in if the West Ham man cannot feature at the weekend, but is sure that it will not be necessary.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Yes," he said at a press conference when asked if he would be comfortable taking Rice's place. "But I believe Dec is fit anyway. He was back in training today and he felt fine, so if all goes well then Dec will be fit. If not, I’d do my best to complete the 90 minutes obviously.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rice has been an important part of England's World Cup campaign so far, having started all four of their matches so far and completed three of them.
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WHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND? The Three Lions will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals of the World Cup, with the winner going on to meet either Morocco or Portugal.