Harry Maguire has spoken out following the criticism of his England selection despite his Manchester United struggles.
The United captain has been relegated to the bench in recent weeks by his club boss Erik ten Hag. Despite falling out of favour at club level, though the centre-back remains a first choice for national boss Gareth Southgate.
He played the full 90 minutes in Friday's 1-0 loss to Italy, a result which sees the Three Lions relegated from the Nations League top tier after failing to win any of their first five games in the competition. While Maguire was not at fault for the winning goal at the San Siro, he still came in for plenty of abuse online. And the 29-year-old has now given a frank assessment of his situation with club and country.
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"I am all good, ready to play, I feel fit and fresh," he told talkSPORT.
"On my form, I don’t know what has been said, I don’t really read about it. I came off the back of three positive games with England in the summer, and a good pre-season, I felt really good. Obviously, the manager [Ten Hag] decided to leave me out for a game, and the team have been winning since.
"I am working hard on the training pitch to make sure I am ready for when my opportunity comes. That is all what I can do to try and help the team."
With regards the criticism and media headlines he has been subjected to, Maguire also batted off suggestions that it negatively impacts him. He also addressed the potential difficulty of playing at the World Cup on the back of limited game time for United.
He added: "I am not concentrating on anybody else and what people are saying, I think if people can make a story about me, I am Manchester United captain, it is going to make big news.
"So, that is the reason they do it, they like the clicks, and things like that, but I went into the Euros after an eight-week injury, and did not play one game, and got into the team of the tournament.
"In terms of rustiness, and things like that, I am sure that won’t happen."
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