Gallagher deserves his England chance
SOUTHGATE PROMOTES PALACE MIDFIELDER
GARETH Southgate insists Conor Gallagher “deserves” his first England call-up after he was promoted from the Under-21 squad for tonight’s World Cup qualifier in San Marino.
The Three Lions just need a point against the nation who sit bottom of the FIFA rankings in order to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Luke Shaw all withdrew from the squad, with Gallagher added to Southgate’s ranks.
The Chelsea midfielder has impressed during a loan spell at Crystal Palace this season and follows in the footsteps of Emile Smith Rowe in earning a maiden senior call-up as a replacement in the current squad.
“We’ve been very impressed with him,” Southgate said of the 21-yearold, who has yet to make his senior debut for Chelsea.
“We’ve tracked him for a very long time in his loan spells at Charlton, Swansea - we knew the staff there very well - at West Brom and now at Crystal Palace so in each loan he has done extremely well.
“He was already Covid tested and going from one to the other was straightforward. That’s not to say he is only there because of that - he is here because he deserves to be here - but it was an easy transition for us to make.
“He has started the season very well with Palace. We talked about him when we named the original squad as somebody we were keen to keep an eye on and I suppose it’s one of the benefits of being with the Under-21s because it was an easy transition for us to bring him across.”
England sit fifth in the FIFA rankings, 205 places ahead of their hosts - who are rock bottom below the likes of Guam and the British Virgin Islands.
But Southgate does not intend to take the challenge lightly and hinted he could name a strong starting XI, with captain Harry Kane keen to be included after his hat-trick in Friday’s 5-0 win over Albania took him within nine of Wayne Rooney’s record tally of 53 England goals.
The England squad that travels to San Marino will be vastly different to that named by Southgate ahead of the final two World Cup qualifiers.
Marcus Rashford and James WardProwse had already withdrawn, with Arsenal’s Smith Rowe drafted in, and now a quintet of players will not make the journey either.