England captain Harry Kane has criticised the number of players who have withdrawn from the Three Lions squad ahead of this week’s Nations League fixtures.
A total of nine players have pulled out of interim boss Lee Carsley’s final squad, with England facing Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
With Thomas Tuchel taking over as full-time manager in January, this is the last time the national team will be led by Carsley.
But with so many players dropping out, Kane has spoken out and insisted that “England comes before club.”
Speaking to ITV Sport, Kane said: “I think England comes before anything. England comes before club.
“England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.”
Harry Kane Unhappy With England Teammates
Kane expressed his disappointment with those who have pulled out of the squad.
Asked if there is less of a desire to play for England among some players, he said: “Yeah, it’s a shame this week obviously.
“I think it’s a tough period of the season, maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. England comes before anything, any club situation.”
All of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill had already withdrawn from the squad.
And then, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite became the ninth to drop out, having himself been called up as a replacement.
As a result, Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah has been drafted in, and trained with the squad this week.
Discussing the drop outs, Lee Carsley said: “It’s important we make the most of the situation. With the amount of players that have pulled out, it gives an opportunity for the players that are here.
“With the amount of pull-outs we’ve had in this window, historically it’s been like that in the past. November has always been a challenging window.”
England play Greece on Thursday before hosting the Irish at Wembley on Sunday. It is likely they wil need to win both games in order to be promoted back to Nations League A.
