Le Saux discusses Rose, Bertrand and Shaw battle

Matt Stead

Danny Rose has got the nod over Ryan Bertrand mainly because of the Tottenham links in the England team, according to former England left-back Graeme Le Saux.

Rose played the full 90 minutes of England’s final warm-up game against Portugal last week to suggest he is Roy Hodgson’s preferred choice going into Saturday’s opening game of Euro 2016 against Russia.

Le Saux does not believe there is much to choose between Rose and Bertrand but has backed Hodgson’s choice in a side which is expect to contain five Tottenham players.

Speaking to Planet Football, the latest brand in our network, Le Saux said: “They’re both very, very good full-backs that I look at and have confidence in.

“I don’t think picking Rose ahead of Bertrand is necessarily based on him being better than Bertrand; I just think you’ve got a strong Spurs contingent in the England team.

“I like the fact that you’ve got the two full-backs, a holding midfielder and then obviously Alli and Kane. You’ve got five Spurs players in the England team and I think that’s got to be a good thing.

“As long as they’re all playing to the standard that’s got to help the understanding within that team. With players that don’t spend a lot of time together with the national team that’s something that I feel is a major positive.

“It’s one of the big challenges when they play Russia because the Russian side is basically made up of two club sides, Zenit and CSKA Moscow. So the understanding those players have got is going to give them that bit more resilience.

“So it’s great that we’ve got those five Spurs players in our line-up.”

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While Le Saux has faith in both Rose and Bertrand, the former Chelsea and Blackburn star believes Luke Shaw would have been a shoo-in for a starting role were it not for his injury.

“I have a huge amount of sympathy for Luke Shaw because I think he was making the left-back spot his own before his horrific injury,” Le Saux said.

“I can relate to that too because I missed two Euros – in ’96 when I had my foot facing the wrong way, which put me out for nearly a whole year, and then Euro 2000 because I had two more operations on it. So I feel his pain at the moment.

“So if he was fit and was playing at the level he was before the injury he would be my first choice.

“But Rose and Bertrand, I like both of them. I know Ryan very well from his time at Chelsea, and his development at Southampton…he’s absolutely deserved his inclusion.”

Graeme Le Saux was speaking to Planet Football on behalf of LloydsPharmacy’s Online Doctor service