Time running out for England hopefuls to press World Cup claims to Southgate

The England players believe they have one last chance to change Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans in tomorrow’s friendly against Italy at Wembley.

Southgate must submit his 23-man squad for this summer’s World Cup by June 4, but, ideally, the England manager wants to have finalised his list before the June 2 friendly against Nigeria.

It could be that Southgate names his squad early and puts players on standby to cover for injuries, but he would like his World Cup squad together for the warm-up games against Nigeria and Costa Rica on June 7. That means the Italy game represents a final chance for players to force Southgate into a rethink.

Goalkeeper Jack Butland is expected to get a chance against Italy to stake his claim for the No1 spot, which he is fighting for with Jordan Pickford. Joe Hart remains hopeful of going to the World Cup, but is likely to be third choice. It seems Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope’s best chance of making the World Cup squad is if either Butland, Pickford or Hart suffers an injury.

Kyle Walker’s impressive display in the back three in the 1-0 win against Holland on Friday has, barring an injury crisis, ended any hope of recalls for either Gary Cahill or Chris Smalling, while Ashley Young could give Southgate a headache at left wing-back.

Young has impressed in training over the past week and might start against Italy, having seen Danny Rose picked ahead of him in Amsterdam. Southgate also has Ryan Bertrand to consider.

Adam Lallana’s fitness is a major concern for Southgate. The 29-yearold could not play against Holland after failing to train for most of last week and it has emerged he has not been able to take part in full sessions at Liverpool. Lallana has only started one game for Liverpool in more than two months, and needs to prove his fitness to Southgate.

With Jack Wilshere’s World Cup hopes virtually over after he was forced to withdraw from the latest squad, Ruben Loftus-cheek can still claim a place in Southgate’s squad if he remains fit for Crystal Palace for the rest of the season.

In the forward positions, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford are all certain to go to Russia, but there may still be an opportunity for Danny Welbeck.

Defender Joe Gomez, who injured an ankle against Holland, is due to find out the results of his scan today.