Rice provides England injury update after Thomas Tuchel given new World Cup scare

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England star

Declan Rice

has insisted that he's 'good as gold' despite having to be substituted in the dying embers of their 2-1 victory over

DR Congo

. Rice, 27, hobbled off in place of

John Stones

shortly after

Harry Kane

scored his second goal in Atlanta to complete the comeback.

The

Arsenal

star missed England's previous game against

Panama

with a calf injury, while he's also

battled back problems and a hamstring issue

. But Rice should be available for Monday's clash with co-hosts

Mexico

in the round of 16.

"It's what happens when you play in 30-degree heat I suppose," Rice told

BBC Radio 5 Live

. "Tough game. Give it everything and bodies been through a lot in that match. Time to recover and go again."

The midfielder then confirmed: "I'm fine. Good as gold."

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It was indeed an arduous affair for England, who went behind in the seventh minute after Brian Cipenga beat

Jordan Pickford

at his near post. The Three Lions huffed and puffed, with Kane eventually coming up trumps with goals in the 75th and 86th minutes to turn the tie on its head.

Rice was moved to right-back before England's comeback, with Djed Spence having endured a torrid time up against Cipenga. If

Reece James

remains out injured, then

Thomas Tuchel

might be inclined to keep the 27-year-old in defence.

"It's a knockout game," Rice continued. "They've got through a tough group and it was never going to be easy. You can never underestimate opposition as a neutral, as a player because they have quality and can hurt you at any given moment and they did.

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.

"But other than that I think we had so many chances. Their goalkeeper, credit to him, he had an absolute worldie.

"Harry Kane, inevitable, scoring them goals. It was a deserved win but made a bit more hard work than we should've done. The main thing is knockouts we win and that's what we done."

England have been rewarded with a trip to Mexico City, where they'll play at the iconic Estadio Azteca. The stadium is situtated 2,240 metres above sea level and Mexico have never lost a World Cup fixture there.

In 89 competitive matches at the Estadio Azteca, they've lost just two. England will be hoping to following in

Brazil

and

Argentina's

footsteps and become its third conquerers.