Southgate ‘hoping’ Phillips ‘can hit form’ as Rashford warned three stars gunning for his place

Gareth Southgate has suggested Kalvin Phillips is still in his best midfield as he hopes he “can hit form” while he warned Marcus Rashford four English wingers are gunning for his spot.

Southgate’s latest Three Lions squad saw a few new faces included. Anthony Gordon and Jarrad Branthwaite are both involved for the first time; the likes of Cole Palmer and Ezri Konsa are also fairly new to the fold.

One mainstay of the England outfit who has not been included is Phillips. The Manchester City midfielder has had a torrid time at the start of his loan to West Ham – having only started three out of a potential seven league games.

While Southgate dropped him on current form – something he didn’t do while he was sitting on the sidelines at City – he still believes the midfielder is one of his best players in his position, and is hopeful he can break back into the side.

“I can’t guarantee anybody. We know in certain positions who our best players might be – Kalvin Phillips I think is still in that position, but at this minute, I can’t go with that, so I’m hoping he can hit that form,” Southgate said.

There are also some in-form players gunning for positions held by star men. Rashford has played 13 of the last 15 England games – he was injured for the other two – but Southgate has warned that some other forwards are coming for him.

“He has a battle on his hands with Gordon, with Palmer, with [Phil] Foden, so we’ve got big competition for places in that area,” Southgate added.

“What happens while players are with their clubs is club matters, because they know the full story. Obviously, we observe everything, we don’t miss anything.

“I don’t say behaviours off the field are irrelevant, because clearly they’re not. But the key thing is we are mainly focusing on the performances on the field. He’s got big competition. So has Jack [Grealish].

“These guys are playing well: Gordon, [Jarrod] Bowen, they’re scoring regularly, they perform well for the team, they defend well, they work hard, they compete and we’ve got really good options.

“We know what Marcus can bring to us but equally everybody has got to perform well between now and the end of the season. That’s the environment we’re in.”

Rashford has been outscored in the Premier League by Bowen, Palmer, Foden and Gordon this season, so on current form, one of those should be starting ahead of him.

However, the Red Devil seems to have a knack of turning it on in an England shirt – he scored three goals at the last World Cup after starting the competition on the bench, so could ensure he keeps his spot.

That said, the England boss talked up the qualities of new squad man Gordon ahead of a potential debut.

“I like the way he competes, he’s aggressive with the ball and positive,” Southgate said.

“He has quality, he can retain the ball under pressure; he’s quick, speed is something that frightens full-backs and he has that. And he scores goals: he’s added that little bit more consistency to his goalscoring in the last couple of years.”

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