Rice revealed he has been dealing with nerve pain in his hamstring since the festive period while playing for Arsenal. He also claimed that his substitution was a precautionary decision, particularly given the demands of the closing stages of matches.
He told ITV Sport: “I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that, it was all behind-the-scenes stuff, but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70‑minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it, and I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
