Saido Berahino’s dream of firing England U21s to international glory is over after the striker was forced to withdraw from the squad, and the competition, with a knee injury.
The young striker looked set to start England’s opening match of the European Under-21 tournament in the Czech Republic but suffered the injury in England’s last training session.
It was hoped the striker would be able to shake off the injury, but further tests showed the issues to be worse than first thought.
England Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate said it was big blow to lose Berahino on the eve of the tournament.
'It’s a great personal disappointment for Saido. He’s very conscious of it not affecting the team and we’re personally disappointed for him because he’s been with us from the very first game, scored our first goal and has been a huge part of the reason why we’re here.
'It’s a great shame he won’t be able to finish the job.
'For us, it’s important that we move on and the rest of the group respond and react in the right way as they have done throughout the competition.'
Albion’s Performance Director Dr Mark Gillett said club doctors will now assess Berahino on his return to The Hawthorns before he undergoes rehabilitation.
“We are hopeful the injury is not too serious,” he said.
“We are grateful to the FA for putting the player’s welfare first even though it will obviously be disappointing for Saido to miss out on the tournament.
“But now the first phase is to assess fully what the problem is and then we can sort out a programme for his recovery and rehabilitation.”
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