Axed Foden’s fresh chance

FROZEN OUT: Greenwood and Foden both broke rules

GARETH SOUTHGATE is ready to recall Phil Foden when he names his next England squad.

And the Three Lions boss will also consider handing Mason Greenwood a reprieve.

He believes both should be available for selection after being sent home from Iceland in disgrace last month.

Man United forward Greenwood is not such a straightforward selection purely on a footballing basis – but Foden, 20, has been in outstanding form for Man City.

Southgate made it clear he wanted to teach them a lesson after they were caught with girls in the team hotel while on international duty, which broke strict coronavirus protocols.

He left Greenwood, 19, and Foden out of his next squad to face Wales, Belgium and Denmark to teach them a lesson.

Southgate said last month that he needed to “send a message to all our players in our teams at every age level that that sort of thing isn’t how we do things”.

But he also made it clear they had a duty to “rehabilitate” young players who make mistakes. And now he clearly feels that they deserve another chance for the games with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Iceland.

Southgate will name his squad next Thursday and Foden looks highly likely to go straight back in after some excellent recent performances for City in both the Premier League and Champions League.

He is regarded as one of the country’s best prospects and will push hard for a place in the Euros.

But Greenwood, who scored against RB Leipzig at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, has not started regularly for United. It’s also been reported the club warned him over his timekeeping and standards – although manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted there was no issue.

Greenwood is also facing fierce competition for a place after the emergence of Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish as a regular in the squad.

And Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho will compete for wide places.