Gareth Southgate has explained why he will not call up any back-up for the England squad to face Ukraine at Wembley, despite Reece James’ injury and Luke Shaw’s suspension.
James withdrew from the squad on Saturday for an “assessment of an ongoing issue”, while Shaw was sent off towards the end of the Three Lions’ 2-1 win over Italy in their first Euro 2024 qualifier.
There were also concerns about the fitness of midfield trio Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham and Kalvin Phillips, but Southgate has said all three are available.
“They’re all good,” he said ahead of the Ukraine clash. “With Kalvin, (Italy) was his first 90 for a little while. He had 90 at Bristol City in the cup, so we’ll just have to assess freshness as much as anything.
“That’s the same with the whole group. It is that time of the year and we have got to get the balance right of continuity, consistency, but also freshness.”
The England boss says he would rather focus on the squad he has than disrupt it with a new face ahead of his side’s first home game since the World Cup.
“We have just about enough to get through this game,” said Southgate. “We have been training with this group all week – to call somebody from the outside would be potentially quite complicated.
“We would have no idea where they might be and what their training load has been over the last couple of days. If we were going to do that at this point we would do that with the under-21s.”
England’s U-21 side will probably appreciate that Southgate did not borrow some of their talents, as Chelsea winger Noni Madueke came off the bench to grab a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win over France.
The senior side last faced Ukraine in their 4-0 Euro 2020 quarter-final victory, thanks to a brace from Harry Kane, as well as goals from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson.
It was Kane who stole the headlines after England’s win over Italy, as his first-half penalty made him the Three Lions’ all-time top goalscorer.
Southgate also praised the pride and strength of the Ukrainian players in the face of their country’s ongoing war with Russia.
“They are very proud,” he said. “We saw that at the beginning of the war when they went to Scotland at the beginning in the [World Cup] play-offs and Wales.
“We of course have huge sympathy with what is going on, tomorrow is a game of football and we are fully focused on trying to win the game.
“It’s a crucial game in the qualifying group, frankly. If we can follow on what we did the other night and win this one, then we’re in a really good place. If we’re going to be a really top team, then we have to back up the result and the performance that we showed the other night.
Southgate also praised Brentford striker Ivan Toney, the only uncapped member of the current squad, but emphasised that his priority was on winning tomorrow’s game.
“He’s been very good,” Southgate said. “We really like him and he’s very much in our thoughts.
“You know the numbers we’ve got with us now, so there’s always the dual objective.
“There’s, of course, a desire to see players, but we are in a qualifying group, where the priority is to win the game first and foremost, so whatever we decide is with a view to doing that.”
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