MANAGER TELLS FRINGE STARS TO BOWL HIM OVER
GARETH SOUTHGATE has urged England’s fringe stars to grasp their World Cup opportunity as he plans to pull Raheem Sterling out of the firing line against Belgium tonight. With qualification into the knockout stages in the bag, Southgate plans to make a lot of changes to the side that thumped Panama 6-1 on Sunday. Sterling is set to be a high-profile exclusion as England look to finish top of Group G with victory over Roberto Martinez’s side — though, barring a dramatic change of heart from Southgate, he’ll start in England’s last-16 clash next week. Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford are jostling for the nod from Southgate to step in this evening. And the England manager has called on the players to grasp their opportunity. ‘Every player, the 12 players who aren’t playing, it’s natural they want to play,’ he said. ‘We’re competitive and want to play in every game. That’s not possible. We have to respect that and keep pushing. ‘The mentality of those who haven’t been in the starting XI has been to keep working as hard as possible, keep training and force an opportunity. ‘The intensity of the game will be good. The players that come in when you make changes have a high level of motivation. They have a brilliant opportunity to show what they can do.’ Danny Rose is in line for a first start in Russia, with the Spurs defender set to replace Ashley Young at left-wing back. And Eric Dier will make his bow against the Belgians. Gary Cahill and Phil Jones will also be hoping for action, while captain Harry Kane is expecting to play as he looks to extend his lead at the top of the World Cup goalscoring charts. Fabian Delph is hoping to feature before he heads home to England for the birth of his baby. Much has been made about the merits of finishing second in the group as it appears to provide an easier route to the final. But Southgate disagrees. ‘We think that we need to keep winning football matches,’ he said. ‘We want to breed a mentality that everyone in our squad wants to constantly win. ‘We are building a team that everyone back home can see are passionate to play for England — want to win every time they go out — and are improving every time.’