To anyone who has watched England’s allergy to the upper-left quarter of the pitch manifest, it will be of little surprise that consensus had formed around the idea that Anthony Gordon must start Tuesday night’s meeting with Slovenia.
The only forward of his type in Gareth Southgate’s squad — a flier without the ball, direct with it and, crucially, attuned to playing on that thus-far neglected flank — if anything, the only shock is that so far he has not featured even off the bench.
