Gareth Southgate sends holiday order to England stars before squad announcement

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Gareth Southgate’s big squad announcement will not be big news to many of his England hopefuls.

But the Three Lions boss will spring a surprise by naming more than the expanded 26-man party allowed by UEFA for this summer’s Euros.

Southgate has already informed some of his key men not to book any holidays for June.

So it’s only those still on the fringes who are sweating on their places ahead of a tournament many expect England to be major contenders to win.

One Premier League boss even joked in private this week that if the Three Lions don’t end 55 years of hurt this summer, they never will.

Southgate certainly has an embarrassment of riches to play within forward areas – and the spine of a team which reached the World Cup semis.

But this weekend’s all-English Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City has caused him a big headache.

Southgate wasn’t at first in favour of the rule change allowing him an expanded squad of 26 as he feared he’d struggle to keep them all happy.

But up to seven of his picks could now feature for their clubs in Saturday’s final in Porto – and would have to join up late with England as a result.

They include City’s John Stones, Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden, along with Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and Reece James.

That would rule all of them out of England’s June 2 warm-up against Austria, and mean a cameo role at best four days later against Romania.

So Southgate has decided to name a handful of standby players in addition to his 26-man squad, largely to make up the numbers in Middlesbrough.

The England boss has always been big on promoting youth and will look to the Under 21s to fill his quota with Everton’s Ben Godfrey firmly in the frame.

He also has some wriggle room as new rules allow him to make changes to his squad right up until England's tournament-opener with Croatia on June 11.

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    • That means Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire will both be given a chance to prove their fitness.

    And it could also mean Burnley’s Nick Pope is named despite needing knee surgery this week.

    Uncapped West Brom keeper Sam Johnstone is ready to step in if needed but Pope could be given a chance to recover first.

    ENGLAND

    GK – Pickford, Henderson, Johnstone

    CB – Stones, Maguire, Mings, Coady, Dier

    FB – Walker, Trippier, James, Chilwell, Shaw

    MF – Henderson, Rice, Phillips, Mount, Bellingham, Ward-Prowse

    FW – Kane, Sterling, Rashford, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Foden, Sancho

    • England Football Team
    • Champions League
    • Premier League
    • World Cup
    • Gareth Southgate
    • Harry Maguire
    • Raheem Sterling

    Source: Read Full Article