Manchester United defender Luke Shaw says he's fit to face the Netherlands in Euro semis
Manchester United full-back Luke Shaw says he is fit to face the Netherlands in England's Euro 2024 semi-final - despite a setback in training which almost ruled him out.
Shaw, 28, suffered a minor injury while training with the squad in Germany which threatened to wreck his chances of appearing for the national side.
But he now says he is ready to repay manager Gareth Southgate's faith in picking him while he was still recovering from two successive serious injuries.
Shaw made his first appearance in 139 days off the bench in the quarter-final shoot-out win against Switzerland.
"The last four months have been really tough," Shaw said at an England media conference.
"I think obviously, at the start I was expected to come back a lot sooner but, you know, I went through quite a few setbacks, to be honest.
"But I’m here now and it was really nice to get on the other night.
"I’ve been itching to get some minutes. It’s been a long while but really pleased that I was able to get on the pitch and get some minutes, and of course, now hopefully get some more in the next game."
Asked if he feels fit to start and play 90 minutes or even longer, Shaw said: “Yeah, of course. I think I am.
"But obviously that’s solely down to Gareth’s decision on what he does, but how I feel, I feel fit and ready to go.”
Southgate's decision to pick Shaw while injured almost backfired after the left back suffered another setback while training in Germany.
Asked if he feared he would miss the whole tournament, he said: "Yeah, I think so. I think purely because of what I’d been through.
"I worked so hard to get to that place where I was at and then for something like that to happen, I was of course worried.
"But I had a scan and it wasn’t too bad so it was only a minor one. I knew there was still an opportunity to come back and play later on in the tournament.
"It was just in training. I actually overstretched to be honest. It was only minor and I’m here now."