Kane, Alli and Winks are among six withdrawals from Gareth Southgate’s England squad, with Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson also pulling out.

While Southgate has dismissed the concerns of there being a club-versus-country problem, describing the suggestion as “nonsense”, he did admit that Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater turned down a call-up for the England team, citing concerns over fitness. Fellow Chelsea player Gary Cahill is also an injury doubt for the England friendlies.

With all the injuries these friendlies give an opportunity for England’s fringe players to force their way into the England team ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

Southgate has called up a number of possible debutants for these internationals, handing youngsters Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Joe Gomez a chance to impress.

However, with the withdrawals of a number of England’s key players there is a worry that players are prioritising their clubs over their country, especially with Kane, this season’s current top scorer in the Premier League, expected to recover from injury just after the international break, for Tottenham’s north London derby match against Arsenal.

 

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