18 March 2023 , 22:30
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Harry Maguire's struggle to nail down a place at Manchester United could have an impact on his England future.
Gareth Southgate has named Maguire in his squad to face Italy and Ukraine despite the centre-back falling behind Rafael Varane and Lisandro Martinez in Erik ten Hag’s plans. And the England boss is backing the 30-year-old to once again do his country proud.
But Southgate admitted: “We are where we were ahead of the World Cup - and it’s not a perfect scenario. Harry has got two World Cup winners currently ahead of him in the (United) team and that’s the benchmark. He dealt with it brilliantly in Qatar. His performances were exceptional.
“He had a lot of pressure going into those games because the spotlight was on him, but he was without doubt one of our best players in the tournament.”
With John Stones and Reece James also in the England squad after overcoming injury issues at Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, the England boss will have to handle three of his defenders with care.
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Southgate added: “John is only just back in the team at Man City and Reece has had that with Chelsea and is still coming back from a long-term injury. We don't know how much we can get out of each player and are always mindful of managing that as well as we can. It is quite complex.”
Southgate insists England are not to blame for James Maddison’s persistent knee problems at Leicester. The midfielder has continued to be plagued by the issues which stopped him playing a part in the tournament since returning to the King Power Stadium - but has been named in the Three Lions squad to face Italy and Ukraine.
Harry Maguire has struggled to break into Erik ten Hag's starting XI (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)England will monitor Maddison’s condition in the coming days to decide whether he should be on the plane to Naples for the opening Euro qualifier against the reigning champions.
But Southgate insisted: “James missed a period when he came back from the World Cup - and that was a little bit of a surprise because we felt he was in a good place when he left us.
“We've been working closely with Leicester's medical team and over the last few weeks our medics have got a clear picture of what his training schedule is.
“James isn't able to train as regularly as you'd like, but in the games he's been in he's had a good impact. We still wanted the opportunity to pick him but we know we've got to manage him carefully.”