Gareth Southgate confirms why Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham was left out of the England squad

England boss Gareth Southgate has revealed why Tammy Abraham has not been selected in the squad for the upcoming March internationals.

Chelsea trio Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James were included in the 26-man squad after the team was announced on Thursday afternoon.

But their teammate Abraham wasn’t among the forwards selected for the games against Albania 

(Photo by PA Images/Sipa USA)

Abraham has been struggling with an ankle injury in recent weeks which has seen him left out of Thomas Tuchel’s matchday squads.

And as quoted by the Standard, Southgate revealed the reasons behind not selecting Abraham. 

“There were some close calls and I felt we wanted an extra striker in the squad,” said Southgate on Thursday.

“We are really pleased with Harry [Kane], really pleased with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and what they have done.

“Tammy Abraham has not really been involved for Chelsea over the last 4-6 weeks and both Ollie and Patrick, in particular, their goals record has been good.

“We like the personalities of both. Ollie is a player we have had less interaction with in the past, it is going to be good to get to know him. We like his pressing, we like the speeds and the runs in behind.

“He has got some improvement to make in linking the game but for his first season in the Premier League and at a big club he has done exceptionally well.

“That has been a really close call, because all of the things I have said about Ollie, I could have said about Patrick as well.

“He is very unfortunate and, who knows, we could be sitting here in a few days and Patrick is a player we are very much looking at as well.”

Tuchel is hoping to have Abraham back and available for selection after the international break later this month.

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