Luke Shaw says he feels ready to play 90 minutes for England following his return from a lengthy injury absence.
The 26-year-old missed the first five games of England’s Euro 2024 campaign due to a long-term hamstring injury but made his first appearance for five months in Saturday’s European Championship quarter-final victory over Switzerland.
Shaw has not completed a full 90 minutes since Manchester United’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 1 but said he felt “fit and ready to go” ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against the Netherlands.
Asked if he was fit to start and potentially play extra time, Shaw replied: “Yeah of course I think I am but that’s solely down to Gareth’s decision on what he does. I feel fit and ready to go.”
He continued: “The last four months have been really tough. At the start I was expected to come back a lot sooner but I went through quite a few setbacks to be honest but I’m here now. It was really nice to get on the other night, I’ve been itching to get some minutes, it’s been a long while. It was really nice to get some minutes and now hopefully get some more in the next game.”
Shaw was a second-half substitute in Dusseldorf on Saturday, replacing his Manchester United team-mate Kobbie Mainoo in the first of Gareth Southgate’s five in-game changes.
He had been limited to just 12 Premier League appearances last season due to multiple injury setbacks and had not played since United’s 2-1 win at Luton Town on February 18.
Shaw admitted it was “difficult” watching from the sidelines during England’s opening five Euro 2024 matches but said the chance to be involved at the tournament was a motivating factor during his recovery.
“The motivation was to help England and to get back playing,” he said. “For me at the start of the tournament I believed we had a good opportunity and believed we would get far in the tournament and for me it was about getting back fit and helping the team. Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity to repay the faith (from Southgate).
He continued: “It’s been strange, it’s also been difficult, going to games, feeling the atmosphere and not being able to out a shirt on or get involved in anything was quite hard. But that’s what motivated me more to push, and keep working as hard as I can to make sure I could get back and feel the atmosphere in the games.”
England’s penalty shootout victory over Switzerland set up a semi-final showdown with the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday.
(Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
