THIS IS MY HARDEST TEST
Gareth fights on two fronts
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ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate says his side are heading into the Euros at a major disadvantage to their rivals.
And he insists this could be the most challenging tournament ever in terms of managing the nation.
Southgate yesterday added Brighton’s Ben White to his 26man squad as a replacement for injured full-back Trent Alexander-arnold (right).
And while Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson got a 45-minute run-out against Romania, Manchester United’s Harry Maguire still isn’t fully fit.
But it’s not just injuries that Southgate has had to cope with. He was also unable to call on seven players for his team’s last two warm-ups.
United, Chelsea and
Manchester City all reaching European finals left him short of players who will now need their fitness assessing.
Rival nations will also have more time to prepare for the tournament as England start theirs this Sunday against Croatia.
But Southgate insists there can be no excuses as the Three Lions look to build on their run to the semi-finals at the last World Cup.
He said: “We kick off earlier than some of the teams who had players in the Champions League Final.
“Spain and Portugal still have friendlies to play as their group games are later. We do have less time but we have to use that time as well as we possibly can.
“In terms of players playing all seven matches, we are going to need and will use the squad. “It’s always a challenge. It’s likely to be more of a challenge in this tournament than any tournament previously I think. “And the best team for Croatia may not be the best team for the game with Scotland.” Maguire is unlikely to be fit for England’s opener and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka also missed Sunday’s win over Romania with a hip injury. Southgate said: “We lost more players than we wanted to. But we are pretty clear on who we will have available.
“These two friendly games have been complicated to prepare for because of the players we’ve needed to manage through the minutes to avoid injury.
“We knew ours was more complicated than most. But some teams are having to change base. So everyone has their issues. We have just got to show resilience.”
Southgate knows who he wants in his starting line-up – but history has taught him not to bank on it.
He said: “Every time I’ve written a team down on paper over the last 12 months I’ve had to get the pencil with the rubber out.
“Hopefully we can avoid any injury or illness issues in the next few days.”