by Gareth Southgate says he faces a “difficult” Euro 2024 selection option given England’s potential fitness and availability issues ahead of the summer.
It is the first time since the 2018 World Cup that the former 57-capped defender has had to pick a 23-man squad for a major tournament after it was expanded to 26 following the coronavirus pandemic.
But Southgate could name even more than that at the temporary squad announcement on May 21 because the English boss will have to deal with injuries and the late arrival of key players.
The final squad is not due to be submitted to UEFA until late on June 7, but the cup’s final engagement is set to throw warm friendlies against Bosnia in Newcastle and Iceland at Wembley.
Asked how many extra headaches his 23-man squad will face due to his hitting problems, Southgate said: “Yes, it will be complicated, because first of all the injury situations we have.
“Some will be back playing at the weekend, some will be back playing in a few weeks, some will be very close to the end of the season.
“Then we have the European finals, the FA Cup final and our two friendlies.
“It’s inevitable that we’ll be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here even though we were dealing with 26 at the time.
“We don’t really know (how many will be in the provisional squad) because there are so many questions about the injuries at the moment.
“But we’ve gained valuable information about so many players this week.”
While Southgate is planning for a 23-strong Euro squad following England’s away 1-0 loss to Brazil and 2-2 draw with Belgium, he revealed some coaches wanted to revert to 26 players .
“It seems it is (set at 23),” said the England boss. “There is one more meeting at UEFA where there was a bit of talk among some of the coaches about maybe increasing that.”
That meeting will be part of the rivals’ wider workshop on April 8 and 9 in Dusseldorf, where Southgate will not push for 26 like other coaches but will accept it if the decision goes that way.
The England boss, who has previously said that picking 23 is “more of a skill”, was asked if he favored a move to an extended selection, he said with a laugh: “Well, because of where we are now!
“We have to make the best decisions with what we know and some of those will be medical decisions right now.
“And we managed to get those right in previous competitions. We were able to give people time, but with 23 it’s definitely more difficult.”
Previous extended selections have allowed Southgate to make a calculated gamble on the fitness of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson at Euro 2020 as the pair recover from injury.
The same goes for Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips at the 2022 World Cup as they work their way back to fitness, with injuries to Luke Shaw and Reece James potential beneficiaries if he goes to 26 this time.
England suffered their first away defeat in 15 months in Brazil losing 1-0 late on Saturday at Wembley, where Jude Bellingham later scored a goal to salvage a 2-2 draw against Belgium three days later.
Southgate was forced to try far more than expected during the friendly double-header due to an unprecedented injury list which saw him without a third of the 40-odd players on his long list against of Brazil.
Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Sam Johnstone all withdrew from the squad during the camp, while Jordan Henderson was unable to feature in either game.
“I had a plan on Saturday night for Tuesday that fell apart in 12 hours, so a plan for something in two and a half months at the moment is ridiculous.” Said Southgate.
“We know some of the key parts of that, we know who can play at that level, who our best players are.
“And the rest, we have a much clearer picture of what people can take from the two games we’ve played.
“We’re going to see how people are when they get back into shape, if they can do that fitness-wise with their clubs.”
Anthony Gordon, Ezri Konsa and Kobbie Mainoo scored their first goals in the past few days, while Ivan Toney registered his first goal – from the penalty spot – against Belgium on his first international start.
The quartet increased their chances of making the plane to Germany, with 18-year-old Mainoo’s stock growing arguably the most.
Manchester United’s talent has staked its claim in midfield with the versatile Kalvin Phillips omitted, Trent Alexander-Arnold injured and Henderson unavailable.
Mainoo won his first cap off the bench against Brazil and, four months after making his first Premier League start, was named player of the match for his display on his full England debut on Tuesday.
“He gives us a different profile of midfielder to anything else we have,” Southgate said.
“He’s adapted and adjusted wonderfully. You can’t believe his age, really, that he’s coping the way he is.”
Asked if he was confident Mainoo could put an end to the noise after such a great start, he said: “I think, first of all, he looks very mature, very calm. He knows he’s getting his way.
“We are very happy with what he has done, first of all, and then there is still a lot of the season to play with his club.”
