Netherlands leave Timber out of Germany match

The Netherlands have left Jurrien Timber out of their Nations League match against Germany as the defender continues a cautious return from injury, with coach Xavi saying the team would manage his workload carefully. Timber joined the national squad after playing an hour for Arsenal in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton. He did individual work away from the group during training on Tuesday, according to reports, and the Netherlands had been in contact with Arsenal over his training programme. One report said Timber completed full training on Wednesday before the decision was made to exclude him from the Germany match. Xavi said he would be cautious with the defender, and discussions had taken place with Arsenal’s medical staff about managing his workload, according to an account of the coach’s press conference. The Netherlands are due to play Serbia on Sunday and Greece on October 1, with another match against Serbia scheduled three days later. Whether Timber will feature in any of those games has not been confirmed. The Germany match is the first of the Netherlands’ four fixtures in the international window under Xavi.