Gareth Southgate is set to hand the Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks his second England cap in Monday’s daunting Nations League tie against Spain and has thrown his support behind Marcus Rashford to emerge stronger from an erratic spell of form.
England will be without the suspended John Stones and Jordan Henderson against the group leaders in Seville’s Estadio Benito Villamarín, with Joe Gomez and Winks expected to start in their place. Winks’s only appearance for the national side came in a qualifying win in Lithuania a little over a year ago and he has completed 90 minutes just three times since undergoing surgery on a long-standing ankle complaint in May.
Yet Southgate, who was pleased with his players’ adaptation back to a 4-3-3 in Friday’s goalless draw with Croatia, will turn to the 22-year-old, having been impressed with his display in Tottenham’s 4-2 Champions League defeat by Barcelona this month. “Harry, we know, is a player who connects the game really well, and who can receive under pressure,” said the manager. “It is still early in his development. I was speaking to him about the game with Barça last week and those nights you learn so much from.
“He is the type of player we want to build the future around. We have a few – Nathaniel Chalobah, Winks, Ross Barkley, Gomez, too – who really missed a year’s football with injury, so it is great to see them back. We recognise we have to keep progressing and advancing.
“For me, the most important thing is we build for two years’ time. We could live hand to mouth and pick teams that are maybe more experienced for a game like Croatia or Spain. We could have played one of our more experienced right-backs at left-back on Friday and not given Ben Chilwell the opportunity, but in doing what we did you find and discover a player who looks very comfortable at this level. So we have to try and continue that process. We always know we have to keep getting results, but also look to two years’ time as well.”
Southgate is monitoring the fitness of his full-backs, the impressive Chilwell and Kyle Walker, and is likely to rest the latter – the Manchester City player is believed to have been carrying a minor groin problem – with Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold in his squad as alternatives. Gomez, the Liverpool defender, impressed last month in the 2-1 defeat by the Spanish at Wembley and is likely to fill the central role in the back four that he has played regularly with his club this season.
Southgate may be tempted to retain the same front three as in Rijeka, where Rashford, a scorer against these opponents last month and in the friendly win over Switzerland in Leicester, might have claimed the tie only to miss two excellent second-half chances as England impressed after the interval. The 20-year-old’s form with the national side reflects that at Manchester United, veering from one extreme to the other, but Southgate retains faith in a player who has already gained 28 caps.
“I was really pleased he was in the areas to get those chances and, with his general performance as the game went on, he looked more and more of a threat,” he said. “He scored twice for us last month and we love him to bits, so he’ll take more of those chances than not.
“The more important thing for me is we’ve created good chances against Croatia and the likes of Marcus, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling ... they’re the forwards we’ve got. They’ll finish them. We’ve got to make sure we’re creating them.
“Spain were excellent against Croatia [winning 6-0 in Elche]. In fairness to Croatia, they had a few chances at 0-0 and Spain had one of those nights where some of the goals they scored were outstanding, but everyone knows they are a team that can do that. Frankly, they are one of the best two or three teams in the world and it’s only that the coach [Julen Lopetegui] left on the eve of the summer tournament that meant they didn’t fulfil what they should have done.
“They’ve had some wonderful players who have just come to the end, but replaced those with maybe a bit more energy and pace in the forward areas. They’ve got a top coach in charge in Luis Enrique so this is a very, very tough test.”
It seems likely that Jadon Sancho, whose 12-minute cameo off the bench in Croatia caught the eye, will start among the substitutes again having consistently impressed as an impact replacement with Borussia Dortmund. But Southgate is confident the 18-year-old boasts the class and quality to thrive from the outset if required.
“I briefly had some time with him when he was an under-15 in one of our camps, but I’ve also spent a lot of time talking to other youth coaches to get a good insight into his personality and how he is, just so we were able to help him settle as quickly as possible,” he said.
“He’s actually quite a quiet lad around the place but, he’s very confident on the field and he showed that belief in his spell on Friday.
“I don’t think it’s so relevant whether he starts or is a sub in terms of the impact he’ll have. I just think that’s part of him gaining strength in the game and an understanding at Dortmund of how they’re playing. With us, it was just about easing him into the way we play and the environment. In the Champions League games he’s started with Dortmund, he’s had a really good impact as well.”
