Gareth Southgate warns England fringe players ahead of Wales showdown

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP28 November 2022

England manager Gareth Southgate has warned his squad players he will not be "giving out caps" in Qatar.

Southgate's side have all but sewn up a place in the World Cup last-16 ahead of their final group game against Wales on Tuesday - barring an historic 4-0 defeat and an outright winner between Iran and the USA.

Four years ago in Russia, Southgate made eight changes for England's final group game against Belgium, having already secured passage to the knockouts, ensuring nearly all of his squad featured on the run to the semi-final.

But he has named an unchanged XI for the first two games in Qatar, leaving nine members of his 26-man squad - including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Ben White - still yet to feature.

Southgate is preparing to freshen up his side on Tuesday night, with Jordan Henderson set to start, but has played down the chance of wholesale changes, with top spot in Group B still on the line.

"[Managing the squad is] always a challenge and of course we’ve got 26 players," Southgate. "But we’re at a major tournament, and it’s not about giving caps out.

"We’re here to try to go as far as we possibly can. We’ve got a brilliant group, they support each other, of course players will be disappointed if they’re not playing.

"And when we have other camps throughout the year, we try to manage minutes and give people game-time where we possibly can, because that builds the spirit. But when you’re in a World Cup, you can’t just be thinking that way, unless you’d already qualified, and you’ve got a game that allows a slightly different approach."

England Training Session for FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar | 28th November 2022

England Training Session - FIFA World Cup 2022 - Al Wakrah Sports Complex - Monday November 28th
1/26

Countries are usually allowed to take 23 players to World Cups but FIFA have permitted larger than usual squads in Qatar owing to the finals being crammed into the middle of a congested domestic season.

Reserve goalkeepers Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale, as well as Conor Coady, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips and James Maddison, who was unavailable for the first two games due to a knee injury, have also not yet played a minute yet in Qatar.

Southgate continued: "We’re fortunate we’ve got really good professionals who get on with that. I know it’s tough, because I’ve done it myself, I’ve been to a couple of tournaments where I hardly played any minutes at all. But you recognise in those moments that your job is to support the team, to train well, to support the guys who are playing, to be ready for your moment when it comes.

"And that’s been a big part of our story in the previous two tournaments. Where the squad have been ready, and the squad have really supported each other well throughout."

Davies on "world-class" Spurs team-mate Kane ahead of England clash

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Southgate also played down the prospect of resting captain Harry Kane, insisting he has fully recovered from a knock to his foot against Iran, and talking-up the importance of a win in the Battle of Britain clash.

“We want to win football matches," he said.

"And we’ve got to balance freshness with stability. So that’s always a decision you make when you’re picking the team. We’ve got a chance to win the group, with a positive result. So there’s a lot for both teams resting on the game, there’s no game where there isn’t pressure on either team.

"Our performance is the key. We’ve played well with the ball in our first game, scored a lot of goals. The second game was tougher for us, we defended really well, and now we want to put both elements of the game together."

White is a doubt to be involved against the Welsh after sitting out training on Sunday due to illness.