The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
New boys given chance to shine as trio left out of training session
Danny Welbeck, Danny Rose and Alex McCarthy have missed England training as a precaution.
The trio did not take part in the session at St George’s Park yesterday, with Gareth Southgate preparing his squad for the forthcoming Nations League double-header against Croatia and Spain.
Newcomers Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, Lewis Dunk and James Maddison were all involved, with Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley back in the ranks for the first time since March 2017.
All three players who missed training played in the Premier League over the weekend.
Arsenal forward Welbeck started the 5-1 win a Fulham on Sunday, while Rose played 88 minutes of Tottenham’s narrow victory over Cardiff and McCarthy was in goal for Southampton’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea.
The other 22 members of Southgate’s squad all completed the session unscathed before signing autographs and posing for photographs with invited guests of the Football Foundation.
Maddison was the last player to depart the training pitches after a lengthy conversation with Southgate, who also spent time talking to recalled Spurs midfielder Harry Winks.
Southgate’s side face Croatia in Rijeka on Friday as they look to exact some revenge for their World Cup semi-final defeat during the summer.
The Nations League clash at Stadion HNK will be played behind closed doors before a trip to face Spain in Seville on Monday evening.
Defenders James Tarkowski and Luke Shaw have already withdrawn from the squad through injury, replaced by Dunk and Leicester fullback Ben Chilwell.
Meanwhile, Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley said he has “matured” as a footballer after being recalled to the England squad following a two-year absence.
The Chelsea man came through a difficult end to his Everton days as well as a serious hamstring injury at the start of his Stamford Bridge career to establish himself in the first-team picture under Maurizio Sarri.
He said: “I’m over the moon to be back, I feel like it’s been a long time coming but I feel like I have worked hard over the last couple of years and that it’s fully deserved that I am back here. I feel like I have matured as a person.”