Gareth Southgate has told Jesse Lingard to show why it was a mistake to leave him out of England’s Euro 2020 squad by impressing in tomorrow night’s friendly against Austria in Middlesbrough.
Gareth Southgate said: “Jesse has done incredibly well to get back in the race, really. Going back to January, he was a million miles from being selectable for an England squad. I said in March he’d had a fabulous few weeks but you’d have to say he was a little fortunate because we were without four wide players at that time. He had a good spell with West Ham, and he’s been a player that has played so well for us with England. We have total trust in the way he plays, he’s reliable, he’s a great member of the group. He will play tomorrow because we’ve got Sancho ill, and we’ve obviously got a lot of players not available, and for the balance of the team he’ll start. So he deserves that opportunity to go and show me that I’m wrong, straight away. But also, the lads that are with us, they’re the stand-by players, we’ve got to keep them match ready as well in case they come back into that squad.”
Six of the seven players cut from the provisional list – Mason Greenwood is injured – will be involved against Austria and Romania and remain on standby for the tournament in case of injury. The first-time call ups Ben Godfrey and Ben White, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, midfielder James Ward-Prowse and striker Ollie Watkins are the others set to miss out. They can step in to replace any players injured over the next 10 days but that does not include those who have entered the camp with pre-existing problems, such as Manchester United’s Harry Maguire and Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson.
Gareth Southgate added: “We want to get them into the games, not only because we feel if we have an issue, they need to be ready, but they deserve it. Their commitment to stay with the group, their respect for their team-mates to want to be here, shows what playing for England means for this group of players. I think it’s important the public know that because sometimes people dismiss the importance of England caps, what it means to players. This group are incredible in that regard. I think it speaks massively to their character and personality.”
