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Declan Rice is nursing an injury issue ahead of England's World Cup quarter-final and Thomas Tuchel has been warned about using the midfielder if he's not fully fit

Thomas Tuchel has been told it would be "foolish" to play Declan Rice against Norway if the England midfielder is still nursing his injury issue.

As things stand the Arsenal star is already a doubt for the Norway clash as he's dealing with sickness, but throughout the tournament he's been managing a hamstring issue.

Rice was seen with an icepack on his left hamstring during the latter stages of the 2-1 win against DR Congo in the last 32. Tuchel confessed that Rice was playing with "terrible pain" but he was able to last the full 90 minutes in England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico last Sunday.

Rice has been managing a hamstring problem since Christmas but continued to play a key role for Arsenal during their Premier League success last season - but Pearce insists a long-term view needs to be taken.

He said on talkSport: "The only thing that might be a consideration to him [Tuchel] is the injury… a concern that’s been with him [Rice] for a few games."

Pearce also added: "Is that going to do him more damage and is he likely to break down? If there is a risk there, I think you’d be foolish as a manager to play him."

This week Rice has already missed two days of training due to his sickness bug and he has been isolated from his England teammates so the illness from spreading across the squad

He is not the only concern and England defender Marc Guehi will be assessed on Friday to see if he is fit enough to play in Saturday's clash against Norway. He has a slight hamstring injury. The Manchester City star is desperate to prove his fitness and remains optimistic he can be involved.

In more positive news right-back Reece James returned to training as expected on Thursday and is in contention for the quarter-final, which is especially timely after Jarrel Quansah was given a two-game ban after his red card against Mexico. He was one of the few remaining players capable of operating at right-back.

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