Reece James suffers another England setback ahead of Norway quarter-final

England are preparing for a World Cup quarter-final against Norway.

The Three Lions overcame Mexico at the Azteca on Monday in a 3-2 victory that saw Thomas Tuchel’s men put in arguably their best performance in the last 60 years.

Reece James played no part in the encounter, though. The Chelsea man has not featured at the World Cup since England’s second group game against Ghana after suffering a hamstring injury.

Reece James a doubt for England’s quarter-final against Norway

The 26-year-old has been fighting to return to full fitness ever since, but has so far failed to make a third appearance.

And Tuchel’s problems at right-back have deepened following Jarrel Quansah’s red card against Mexico.

Despite remaining hopeful James will be able to take the place of Quansah, Tuchel has been dealt a major blow just days away from the quarter -final.

According to The Guardian, the Chelsea captain was not able to train with the rest of the England squad at their Kansas City base on Wednesday.

A snippet from the outlet’s report said: “It was not a positive sign to see that he (James) followed an individual programme away from the main group.”

Declan Rice and Marc Guehi were also missing from the rest of the team’s training session but both, who are working individually, are expected to still be available against Norway on Saturday.

How Thomas Tuchel could manage England’s right-back crisis

Although James will be monitored right up to the last minute, there are no guarentees he’ll be fit enough to come straight back into England’s starting lineup.

That scenario would be a nightmare one for Tuchel, who is already without two of his other right-backs.

Should James fail to win his race against time, fans will be expecting Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa to start on the right with John Stones lining up next to Guehi and Nico O’Reilly keeping his place at left-back.

Potential England lineup without James

Due to his impressive record of keeping Erling Haaland quiet whenever they’ve faced one another, they have been some calls for Newcastle United’s Dan Burn to make his first start against Norway.

It remains to be seen if Tuchel will omit Guehi, who has impressed throughout the tournament, for the sake of Burn, despite how resolute the Newcastle United man was in the closing stages against Mexico.

Jordan Pickford; Ezra SoJohn StonesMarc GuehiNico O’Reilly; Elliot AndersonDeclan RiceJude Bellingham; Anthony GordonBukayo Of; Harry Kane.