Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to name Trent Alexander-Arnold in his England 25-man squad ahead of Kyle Walker for upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.
The Three Lions on March 26 and March 29 as they step up their preparations for this year's World Cup, which will be played in Qatar at the end of 2022.
Alexander-Arnold has been selected as one of the players to be involved in these fixtures and will likely be eager to prove a point if selected, having endured a frustrating spell as an England player to date. Walker or Kieran Trippier have often been favoured by Southgate over the Liverpool defender, though he admitted it was time to opt a fresh approach on this occasion.
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"We thought it was a good opportunity for Trent and for Reece [James]," he said of his defensive picks. "These young full-backs are exciting and we need to give them their opportunities as well.
"With Kyle, I had a long chat with him. We felt this was an opportunity to look at the two younger full-backs. We know all there is to know about Kyle, he'll be back with us for the games in June. He is an important part of the progress we've made as a team and, you can see in the biggest matches for Manchester City this year, he has still been a key player for them."
One Reds star still waiting to make his international bow is Curtis Jones, whose past experiences with the national side have come at under-16 level through to representing the under-21s.
There are currently a number of talented individuals competing for places within the England midfield, with Jordan Henderson joined by the likes of Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount for this month's friendlies. When explaining why Aston Villa's in-form star Jacob Ramsey failed to make the cut, Southgate hinted that Jones is another player who could soon be in contention.
"I think Jacob is doing really well. I think at this moment in time Conor Gallagher is slightly ahead," he told Birmingham Live. "They are both pushing Jude (Bellingham), who has been in our squad for a while. Those two are really pushing Jude, there’s no doubt about that, and pushing some of the older players in that group as well.
“That’s an area where Curtis Jones is also emerging at Liverpool. There are some good attacking midfield players that are good at pressing the opposition and look like they can take goals as well.”
