Gareth Southgate says Jack Grealish is ‘in the frame’ to start England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia at Wembley. The Aston Villa skipper started both of this week’s friendly matches against Austria and Romania at the Riverside Stadium and completed 90 minutes on Sunday. Asked about Grealish’s chances of doing so,
Gareth Southgate said: “We have a lot of competition in those areas of the field and he has had an important contribution to win the penalty. He is in the frame with several others.”
Grealish was the most-fouled player in the Premier League last season and he was subjected to similar treatment across the warm-up games, winning several free-kicks in dangerous areas and a penalty on Sunday. Despite missing three months of the campaign through injury, Grealish excelled in Villa colours with a record of six goals and 10 assists. He was also one of the top flight’s biggest creators of chances.
Gareth Southgate added: “We had chances to make it more comfortable but so did they, the first half we did not work hard enough without the ball, we were too stretched and did not press well. After half-time, I thought we improved and it was helpful we went to 4-3-3 later and I have to say it was a good exercise, players needed the minutes and learned a lot from the game. Good to win.”
