If Gareth Southgate is planning any wild card for his World Cup squad, he is now going to leave it as late as possible to play that hand. The last England squad before Qatar, for next weekend’s Nations League games against Italy and Germany, was predictable and only really notable for Eric Dier’s return and names in for injury. Ivan Toney benefited from Marcus Rashford’s lack of fitness, Dean Henderson from Jordan Pickford’s.
It illustrates that the main tension between now and the naming of the final squad is whether any fringe players can force themselves in, and any established players out.
