Gareth Southgate leaves Eddie Nketiah and Fikayo Tomori out of England squad for Italy clash

The Three Lions boss had to cut two players from his 23-man squad (Pictures: Getty)

Gareth Southgate has decided to leave out Eddie Nketiah and Fikayo Tomori from England’s squad for Tuesday night’s crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.

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The Three Lions host the reigning European champions at Wembley in a rematch of the 2021 final, which England lost on penalties, and need a win or a draw to book their place in Germany next summer.

Southgate called up 25 players for his side’s two matches against Australia – which saw a 1-0 victory last Friday – and Italy, but Uefa rules limit matchday squads to just 23 players for competitive games.

That means two players have been required to sit out Tuesday’s contest, with Tomori and Nketiah the unfortunate players to make way.

Arsenal forward Nketiah came on as a substitute for goalscorer Ollie Watkins against Australia in the 73rd minute to make his debut, while Tomori started the contest but was replaced by John Stones shortly after the hour-mark.

Both players are only on the periphery of the squad, with in-form Watkins now the primary backup to skipper Harry Kane – who was rested against the Aussies.

Tomori, who plays in Italy, will have a watching brief on Tuesday (Picture: Getty)

In defence, Southgate has continued to keep faith in Harry Maguire while Marc Guehi started England’s previous international matches against Ukraine and Malta.

England are currently top of Group C, three points ahead of both Italy and Ukraine – who are tied on 10 points apiece – and can wrap up qualification on Tuesday night.

The match represents an opportunity for the Three Lions to expel a few demons from the Euro 2020 final, which was also played at Wembley, while Southgate believes he – and the players – are better and stronger for having gone through that disappointment.

‘I’m sure every coach would be saying they are better than six months ago; they know more, are more experienced and have encountered more of the situations,’ said the England boss ahead of facing Italy.

‘You are managing big matches all the time in one of the most high-profile jobs in football so of course, like every manager, you are improving every day.

Tomori will play no part against the Azzurri (Picture: Getty)More: Trending

‘I hadn’t managed a European final before so the next one I am in I will have another reference and you have more experience. It’s as simple as that. You can only gain experience by being in those moments.

‘People have asked what I would do differently that night but if I had done something differently I don’t know how that would have played out.

‘You make decisions with the information you have at a given time and it’s played out in front of everybody. Everybody can then, in hindsight, say what should have happened but that tape is never played and nobody really knows the answer.’

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