Gareth Southgate explains why Jesse Lingard will play against Austria despite being left out

  Gareth Southgate has explained why Jesse Lingard is set to play in England's friendly against Austria tomorrow despite not making the 26-man squad for the Euro 2020. Southgate named the final Euro squad on Tuesday and Lingard, who was named in the provisional squad, didn't make the cut. The Machester United midfielder joined West Ham on loan during the winter transfer window and since joining the Hammers had an impressive loan spell as he made 16 appearances in which he has scored 9 goals and provided 5 assists. "He will play tomorrow because we've got Sancho ill and a lot of players not available and, for the balance of the team, he will start. He deserves that opportunity to go and show me that I'm wrong," said Southgate. "The lads that are with us are the standby list and we need to keep them match-ready. "Everybody wants to play and that can affect our decision making in these two matches and the training sessions in the lead up. "We have got a very good idea of what we want to do, but that’s always got to be open to change - and that’s the opportunity the players have in the next two games.” "Jesse has done incredibly well to get back in the race. Going back to January, he was a million miles from being selectable for an England squad," he said. "I said in March that he had a fabulous few weeks, but you'd have to say he was a little fortunate because we were without four wide players at that time. "He had a good spell with West Ham and is a player that has played so well for England. We have total trust in the way he plays: he's reliable and a great member of the group."   source - Mirror / Join us on Telegram!/ Follow us on Twitter!

England final squad announced for EURO 2020