France star Kylian Mbappe was absent from first-team training on Tuesday night ahead of Saturday's World Cup 2022 quarter-final showdown with England.
The 23-year-old has taken to this year's tournament in Qatar by storm and the Paris Saint-Germain attacker is the current top scorer after netting five times in four appearances.
Mbappe was a standout performer in France's 3-1 victory over Poland in the last 16 on Sunday, scoring two stunning goals in the second half to keep Les Bleus on track to retain their world title.
However, Mbappe was a notable absentee when Didier Deschamps's squad took to the grass for an open training session in front of the press on Tuesday night at their training base at the Al Sadd SC Stadium.
RMC Sport claims that Mbappe was instead undergoing a session in the 'recovery room' following recommendations from France's team doctor.
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The report adds that Deschamps held a lengthy conversation with the medical team prior to their open training session and decided that it would be best for Mbappe to work alone indoors.
It remains unknown as to whether the PSG attacker has sustained an injury, but separate reports in the French media have since denied such concerns and have suggested that his indoor sessions away from the main group were already planned.
Mbappe is arguably the one France player who England will have to keep an eye on if they wish to prevail on Saturday, but Three Lions left-back Luke Shaw believes the two-time world champions are not a one-man team.
Speaking to reporters, as quoted by The Express, Shaw said: "Obviously after [Mbappe's] performance (against Poland) there's going to be even more chat about him but we know he's a world-class player.
"I think it would be very naive of us to focus purely on him. They're reigning world champions for a reason and we need to focus on them as a whole team.
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"They have brilliant players over the whole pitch so we're not going to fully focus on him, but it's an amazing tie to be involved in and that's why we're here."
England manager Gareth Southgate deployed a four-man defence in all three group-stage matches, but there have been suggestions that he could switch to a back five to counteract the attacking threat France are likely to pose.
"We've always got to get the balance of the team right," Southgate told reporters. "We're wanting to be positive, we feel we've done that so far in this tournament.
"I think we've got energy in the team, we've got legs in the team, we've got depth in the squad. So I don't think we should be drifting too far from what we've been.
"You've obviously got to make allowances for the opposition and find out where you can exploit them but we've got good players to come in as well."
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker is set to be tasked with stopping Mbappe should the France star retain his place on the left flank on Saturday.
Oliver Thomas
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