Gareth Southgate has explained his decision to select Conor Gallagher in England’s World Cup squad, while he said Emile Smith Rowe would have been in contention but for injury.
- Click here to join our football Whatsapp group for 24/7 updates
- Guardiola responds to Ferdinand saying he has ‘created a monster’ in Arteta
- ‘If Lionel Messi wins Ballon d’Or, I’ll quit football’ – Ronaldo’s shock statement
The England manager named his 26-man list for the upcoming tournament in Qatar and Gallagher was one of several surprising selections.
A superb loan spell at Crystal Palace saw the player handed his debut in November of last year and he was also involved in the summer, but reduced game time back at Chelsea this campaign saw him lose his England place in September’s internationals.
Southgate was happy with how he responded playing for the Under-21 team, however, and feels his all-action, high-energy style is something different from England’s other midfielders.
Asked why he picked Gallagher, Southgate said: ‘He’s fantastic at pressing the ball and I think there are going to be moments in these games where we need certain attributes and there are any number of players in this squad with different attributes to be able to utilise at those moments.
‘And we feel he could be that sort of a player. So he’s not as experienced with us as some of the others, but he has an impact in games, he’s got a goal threat.
‘When you talk about midfield players you look at: do they stop goals? Do they create goals? Do they score goals? He does a little bit of all of that, actually.
‘We were really pleased with the way he responded to being left out of our squad [in September], he went with the Under-21s, performed really well, his mentality was excellent.
‘And it’s a great example that if you approach it in that way, there’s always a route back with us and he’s managed to achieve that straight away.’
There were a number of high-profile players who missed out on a place in the team, including Tammy Abraham, Ivan Toney, Ward-Prowse and injured Chelsea duo Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
But one player who has not been mentioned much is Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe, who underwent groin surgery at the end of September and will not return to training until December.
While Smith Rowe’s absence has gone under the radar, Southgate was keen to highlight the 22-year-old as a player who had been impressive and would have been in contention had he been fit.
Referencing players who were unlucky to miss out, the England head coach said: ‘We’ve looked at one or two others. There was a period where Emile Smith Rowe had a go and was playing really well, we’ve sadly lost him.’
