Gareth Southgate has admitted there are other players "ahead" of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after the Manchester United stars were omitted from the England squad.
Rashford and Sancho did not make the 25-man list for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast later this month. Manchester City ace Kyle Walker was also omitted from the squad, while U21 captain Marc Guehi has received his first senior call-up.
"There are other attacking players in our squad who are ahead of him in our opinion," said Southgate when asked about Sancho. The 21-year-old's omission is a surprise having scored two goals and provided three assists in his last six Premier League outings.
"Jadon in the last few weeks his performances have improved but it is an area of the pitch where we have competition for places," explained Southgate.
On Rashford, Southgate added: "With Marcus, he is in the same position as everyone else, whether they are in the squad or not they all have to play well in the next period, it is a difficult time for him, he is clearly not at his best. There is plenty of time, we know about Marcus, we know what he can bring to us."
England are aiming to end their 56-year wait for a major trophy at the World Cup later this year. The Three Lions lost last summer's Euro 2020 final on penalties to Italy and just 18 members of Southgate's squad for that tournament have made the current list.
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Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope has been called up ahead of West Brom's Sam Johnstone, while Ben Chilwell and Kalvin Phillips miss out due to injury. Emile Smith Rowe and Conor Gallagher remain part of the squad.
"With Marc he has had a really consistent season, I have been really impressed on and off the ball," said Southgate when asked about Guehi. "In the biggest games he has been really calm, we know a lot about him from the junior teams. There are some centre-halves who are pushing and very close but we have chosen Marc and Ben White."
England will host Switzerland at Wembley on March 26, with Ivory Coast visiting the same venue three days later. The Three Lions are yet to face the latter side at senior level and haven't played against a non-European team since November 2018.
This month's international break will be the last of the season and the first since November, when England hammered San Marino 10-0 and Albania 5-0. Southgate's side have four Nations League games against Hungary, Germany, Italy and Hungary again in June.
This year's World Cup is held in Qatar and starts on November 21, with the final taking place on December 18. The draw is set to be held on April 1 in Doha, Qatar.
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