SM
Man City vs. West Ham: 3 hrs 17 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Gareth Southgate: 'England players can stake claim for World Cup places'

:Headline: Gareth Southgate: 'England players can stake claim for World Cup places': ID:327394: from db_amp
Gareth Southgate stresses that there are still places up for grabs for players in England's World Cup squad ahead of the friendly against Nigeria on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate has told his England players that there are still places up for grabs in the nation's World Cup squad and will be eager to see how they do against Nigeria on Saturday.

The Three Lions boss is getting his first chance to see his 23-man squad in match action against another qualified side ahead of their tournament opener against Tunisia on June 18.

Southgate has confirmed that Jesse Lingard will start against Nigeria, but insists that the Manchester United man is not directly vying against Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli for a starting berth in Russia.

Another key position yet to be decided is who will start as goalkeeper, with Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland seeking to pin down the number one role ahead of the uncapped Nick Pope.

"I don't think these are trial matches in that a bad performance rules someone out, but there are opportunities for people to really stake a claim in areas of the pitch where there is huge competition for places," Southgate told Sky Sports News.

"[The goalkeeping berth] will become apparent over the next five days. They are inexperienced in terms of senior international games but Pickford and Butland have the perfect path in terms of junior international tournaments and a lot of Premier League football under their belts."

Following the game against Nigeria, England wrap up their pre-World Cup friendly programme with a clash against Costa Rica on June 7.

amp_article__327394 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-06-03 09:50:45:
html db last update - 2018-06-03 09:50:45 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Gareth Southgate

Click here for more stories about England

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool18143145172845
2Arsenal19116238172139
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest1911442619737
4Chelsea19105438231535
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle1995532211132
6Manchester CityMan City199463226631
7Bournemouth198652923630
8Fulham197842825329
9Aston Villa198562831-329
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton196942928127
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1973941281324
12Brentford197393335-224
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham196582335-1223
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd196492126-522
15Crystal Palace194872027-720
16Everton183871524-917
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1944113142-1116
18Ipswich TownIpswich1936101833-1515
19Leicester CityLeicester1935112242-2014
20Southampton1913151239-276
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .