Gareth Southgate insists Phil Foden has a big part to play in England's World Cup campaign as the players underwent a training session ahead of their crunch clash with Wales.
The Manchester City midfielder has played just 19 minutes of football in Qatar across England's opening two games. He came off the bench in the opening 6-2 thrashing of Iran but was an unused substitute in Friday's goalless stalemate with the USA.
There was widespread clamour for Foden to be introduced and Southgate was criticised for not utilising the 22-year-old as his side struggled to create chances at the Al Bayt Stadium. The England boss has been tipped to make changes in the final Group B game against Wales on Tuesday, with Foden potentially one of those to benefit.
"We are intending to be here as long as we can and he is a super player. We think the world of him and he is going to play a big part," Southgate told ITV Sport. "We love Phil. He's a super player. He's obviously been into the first game (v Iran). We decided not to put him into the second but he is going to play an important part in this tournament for us. There is no question about that."
And as the players were put through their paces on Monday afternoon, Mirror Sport took a closer look at the session...
1) Hendo feels the force of Harry
Harry Maguire did not put a foot wrong in the goalless draw with the United States but the big fella was not flavour of the day with Jordan Henderson.
In one competitive training routine, the Manchester United captain drilled the ball at the Liverpool captain and the ball hit Henderson on the upper body before ballooning out of play.
Presumably, Maguire had mistakenly hooked his fiercely-struck pass - as he has known to do - but his club rival shot him an angry look. Maguire was unfazed but hooked from the game for making the error. You can watch the incident at the top of this page.
2) If Jordan is talking the talk, he’s walking the walk
While we are on the subject of Henderson, one of the elder statesmen of this England squad, it looks like he will be winning 72nd cap when Gareth Southgate’s men take on Wales in the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday night.
We did not learn that from any training set-up - the media are booted out after 15 minutes - but from FIFA’s press conference schedule.
At seven o’clock this evening - 4pm UK time - Henderson will join Gareth Southgate in the official Matchday-1 press conference in Doha. And if you are on the podium at one of those, you are either managing or playing.
3) Madders back in the swing but White’s not alright
James Maddison made his return to full training the day after the draw against the United States and took a full part in the MD-1 session.
He certainly looked to be showing no ill-effects from the niggling knee injury that kept him out of the main sessions for the first week. But Ben White was unable to make it out onto the pitch on a steaming hot day because of illness.
Let’s hope he gets better very quickly but probably better to stay out of this fierce sunshine even though it would do wonders for his famous tan.
4) Harry is finally on target
Everyone back home is still waiting for a Harry Kane goal but those of us who were pitch side at the Al Wakrah complex watched him slot in a neat finish during the practice session in which Maguire pinged one at Hendo.
We hear that there are some people back home - and in TV studios here - who would have Southgate rest Kane for the Welsh clash.
To be fair, there are two chances of that happening … slim and none. Kane certainly did not look to be feeling that foot problem he had scanned after the Iran game.
5) Qatar loves a boos ban
It’s not only booze that is banned in this part of the world, England players at this Al Wakrah training complex seem to have outlawed talk of boos.
Gareth Southgate and every one of the players who has been on media duty since the stalemate with the States has steadfastly refused to complain about the jeering that accompanied the final whistle of that match in the Al Bayt Stadium.
In fact, it is clear they don’t even want to mention it and quickly move on to another topic whether we like it or not.
