Southgate to run rule over Tammy

GARETH SouTHGATE is ready to give Tammy Abraham the opportunity to cement his place as Harry Kane’s understudy for the World Cup during the upcoming Nations League fixtures. The England boss is planning on rotating his squad through the forthcoming four games versus Hungary, Germany and Italy as he finalises his plans for Qatar. He also wants to manage his players’ fitness following a long domestic season. Southgate knows the vast majority of his squad for the tournament, which starts in November, but there are a few slots still up for grabs. one of the positions still undecided is that of Kane’s No 2, and there is an expectation that Abraham will have the opportunity to impress Southgate over the next fortnight. The Roma striker has had an excellent season in Italy, scoring 27 goals and supplying four assists for the Serie A outfit as they finished sixth and won the Europa Conference League. He is emerging as the front runner to be the alternative to Kane this winter. The unselected Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains an option for Southgate, while there remains hope Marcus Rashford can rediscover his form under Erik ten Hag at Manchester united. ollie Watkins has been in the squad previously and could come into contention but the lack of genuine centre-forward options is an issue Southgate is privately acknowledging. Kane is known to want to play every minute of every game, particularly with the all-time England goalscoring record within touching distance, but Southgate wants to have a proper look at Abraham. Elsewhere, Liverpool right back Trent AlexanderArnold is expected to play in either Saturday’s game versus Hungary or against Germany on Tuesday. He is expected to leave the camp upon their return to England on Wednesday morning ahead of the final two fixtures against Italy and Hungary at Molineux.