England manager Gareth Southgate has suggested that Harry Maguire's experience is one of the reasons he has been included in the Three Lions squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The Manchester United defender has started just three Premier League matches for Erik ten Hag's side so far this season, but the 29-year-old has been included in the England squad alongside club teammates Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford.
Maguire has endured a difficult campaign so far with United, but has remained an ever-present with his country, recording 48 appearances for the Three Lions so far in his career.
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When asked why he had selected the United centre-back in his 26-man squad, Southgate claimed that England had opted to go with their experienced defenders, rather than the younger players who were pushing for a place on the plane.
"We've had really good communication with all of the clubs in this period. We needed to know those who are playing, what their loads are, those who are playing less regularly," Southgate said in his press conference after the Three Lions squad was announced.
"Some have had unbelievably intense schedules, some have had less so. So, we're picking up various fitness levels and we've got to get that right on the training pitch.
"We've picked our more experienced defenders, and we think at this moment in time, the younger ones have got some really good qualities but we don't think they've quite done enough to push the more experienced ones out. We think the tournament that we're going in to and the level of the matches, that needed to be the pecking order."
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