Home » England v Ukraine: Gareth Southgate sticking with original squad despite defensive absences

England v Ukraine: Gareth Southgate sticking with original squad despite defensive absences

by admin
England v Ukraine: Gareth Southgate sticking with original squad despite defensive absences
Thursday’s win in Italy was Southgate’s 50th victory as England manager
Venue: Wembley Date: Sunday, 26 March Kick-off: 17:00 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport website & app; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app

Gareth Southgate will not call up new players for England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine on Sunday.

There had been concerns over the fitness of Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham and Kalvin Phillips but Southgate says all three are available.

“We have just about enough to get through this game,” said Southgate.

The 52-year-old, whose team won 2-1 in Italy on Thursday in their opening qualifier, added: “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 last meeting with Ukraine was a 4-0 win in the quarter finals of Euro 2020, with the Three Lions going on to reach the final before losing to Italy.

Sunday’s game at Wembley is England’s first home match since reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup last year in Qatar, while Ukraine are unable to play their qualifying matches in their own country due to the ongoing invasion by Russia.

“They are very proud,” said Southgate. “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.

See also  Juventus penalized: the appeal and strategies of the lawyers

“They are a very proud group of players, you can see that they are totally committed to bringing enjoyment to their public.

“We of course have huge sympathy with what is going on, tomorrow is a game of football and we are fully focused on the game.”

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy