England manager Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to include Bukayo Saka in the country’s latest squad despite his injury for Arsenal.
Saka was subbed off during the first half of Arsenal’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Lens on Tuesday and is in doubt to join the Gunners’ crucial Premier League game against Manchester City this Sunday.
The 22-year-old has nonetheless been named as part of the England’s team for their upcoming friendlies against Australia and Italy later this month.
When asked about his decision to include Saka despite his injury, Southgate said on Thursday: ‘He’s still being assessed.
‘Obviously they’ve got a big game this weekend then there’s another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before Italy as well.
‘So everybody will monitor everything as we go forward.’
The England squad named by Southgate are;
GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace).
DEFENDERS: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
MIDFIELDERS: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal).
FORWARDS: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
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