Gareth Southgate has said there was no footballing reason to exclude Jordan Henderson from his England squad and the morality of the midfielder’s decision to join Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League was not a consideration for him.
Southgate sparked the usual discussions with his selection for England’s upcoming matches – the Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine in Poland a week on Saturday and the friendly against Scotland in Glasgow three days later. The manager did not pick Raheem Sterling despite the forward’s improved form for Chelsea in the early stages of the season, which he admitted had gone down predictably badly with one of his most experienced players. There were first call-ups for Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah, recalls for Ben Chilwell and Fikayo Tomori and continued faith in Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips, despite their lack of football at club level.
