Wright names Arsenal star among five ‘ignored’ by Southgate
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has named Ben White among five players who have been “ignored” by England boss Gareth Southgate.
The Three Lions face Albania and San Marino in their final two World Cup qualifiers during the upcoming international break.
Southgate confirmed his squad for these games on Thursday afternoon.
Smith Rowe? White? Now is not time for England churn
Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among the players who have been recalled into the squad.
Meanwhile, the likes of Ben White, Emile Smith Rowe and Jadon Sancho have been left out.
Wright reacted to the squad announcement via Twitter. Along with White, he named Fikayo Tomori, Aaron Cresswell, Jarrod Bowen and Conor Gallagher as players unfortunate not to be called up:
“I’ve been there where form is ignored and certain players are guaranteed spots!! It’s hard to take because there is nothing else you can do. I don’t know what Tomori needs to do (to) get in and get a chance. Cresswell, Bowen, White, Gallagher will all be gutted.”
On Thursday afternoon, Southgate named the players that are on the England precipice:
“Tino Livramento has had a great start to the season, along with Tariq Lamptey and we have just seen Matty Cash go to Poland, but we have a lot of good right-backs in the squad and others pushing them,” Southgate said.
“I think Emile [Smith Rowe] and Conor Gallagher are playing very well with their clubs but we’ve got depth, and to put those in, we’ve got to leave some of these on the sheet out.
“It’s not a bad thing that we’re starting to get a very strong under-21 team because you want that depth.
“The boys I’ve just mentioned are on a really good path, we like them, we get a good chance to see them with the under-21s, as well as with their clubs, but at the moment we think it’s a little bit early for some of those guys to come in.
“We could put them in and they will be absolutely fine by the way, but we think the players we’ve picked are just a little bit ahead at the moment.
“They are all pushing. There is still a step for a lot of them in the consistency. A lot of them are young and still learning their trade.
“We’re 12 months away where there is going to be real competition for places. We’ve seen over the last 12 months how rapidly young players can come through.”
