Josh Acheampong has withdrawn from the England U21 selection due to what’s being reported as a “minor injury”. The Chelsea defender joins Birmingham City (on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion) goalkeeper James Beadle in dropping out of the squad ahead of their friendlies against Portugal and France.
Acheampong was a late scratch for our game last weekend, the 1-0 defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. We played the second half of that with a center back pairing of Wesley Fofana and Moisés
Caicedo — not exactly ideal, especially after Levi Colwill’s horror show against Brian Brobbey.
For the season, young Acheampong has been a welcome revelation — well, revelation only if you haven’t been paying attention — having amassed over 800 minutes, already two-thirds of the way to last season’s total of just around 1300.
With Maxence Lacroix expected to be sidelined until the new year, and both Colwill and Fofana struggling (to varying degrees) to put together consistent performances, there should continue to be plenty of opportunities for Acheampong, be that in a back-three or a back-four setup.
Rest up, young man!
