Captain Kane unhappy at England squad withdrawals

Captain Harry Kane is unhappy with the number of players who have withdrawn from the latest England squad, insisting “England comes before club”.

Nine players have dropped out of the squad for Lee Carsley’s final two matches as interim manager before Thomas Tuchel takes charge in January.

“I think England comes before anything. England comes before club,” Kane told ITV Sport.

“England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.”

When asked if the desire to play for England has drifted this international break, Kane said: “Yeah, it’s a shame this week obviously.

“I think it’s a tough period of the season, maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit.

“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill have dropped out.

Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite was one of the replacement players called up to the squad, until he became the ninth player to withdraw.

Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah is set to be his replacement, having trained with the team for the past two days.

“It’s important we make the most of the situation. With the amount of players that have pulled out, it gives an opportunity for the players that are here,” Carsley added.

“With the amount of pull-outs we’ve had in this window, historically it’s been like that in the past. November has always been a challenging window.”

England likely must beat Greece in Athens on Thursday and Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday if they are to be promoted to League A of the Uefa Nations League.

Carsley dismisses club v country issue

Carsley said none of the current squad has spoken to him about the issue raised by Kane.

He also dismissed the suggestion a club-versus-country situation is brewing, instead preferring to talk about the players he has at his disposal.

“I think it’s his [Harry Kane’s] opinion. I can only deal with what’s in front of us,” Carsley added.

“I know the under-21s and under-20s have had a lot of pull-outs as well. It is definitely that time of the season with fatigue and little issues.

“The players here are massively proud of being here and are highly motivated for tomorrow.”

Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon, who sat alongside Carsley at the pre-match press conference, shook off a knock of his own to join up with England.

When asked if he had to tell his club about wanting to join up with the international side, he said: “I didn’t really have to say. They know how I feel about playing for England and my wishes anyway. It was more about coming here and getting assessed to see if I was fit to play and I was.”

He later told BBC 5 Live Kane was “well within his rights” to speak about the topic as captain of the team.

Gordon added: “He is talking about a broader point of wanting to play for England and everyone should want to play for England at all costs, which I totally agree with.

“A lot of lads have pulled out but there is context to that. We are in November now going into December, we have played a lot of games in the Premier League. It’s so physical now there is no rest physically or mentally.

“Some of those lads are playing in the Champions League as well, which makes it worse. So I am very understanding of what they are going through. I have had a couple of injuries myself, but luckily mine are not too bad, but obviously theirs are where they can’t play so I wish them well.”

Why England’s players withdrew

Full-back Alexander-Arnold was forced off in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.

Midfielder Rice was a doubt going into Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday with a knock and was subbed off in the 71st minute. He is also playing with a broken toe.

Saka was also a doubt, but the winger did start for Arsenal before limping off late on. He was injured playing for England in the last international break and missed two Arsenal games.

Chelsea’s Palmer played the duration of the match, despite being a doubt before kick-off.

Goalkeeper Ramsdale reportedly fractured his finger during Southampton’s 2-0 defeat by Wolves on Saturday.

Forward Grealish was named in England’s squad despite not featuring in any of Manchester City’s last seven matches. Guardiola was unhappy with England picking Grealish, saying he had asked Grealish about the situation and the player had told him he wanted to report.

“Jack has had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries,” added Guardiola.

Branthwaite had been nursing a slight knock from Everton’s match against West Ham and subsequently returned to his club. Reasons for withdrawals from Chelsea defender Colwill and Manchester City midfielder Foden remain unknown, with both men playing 90 minutes at the weekend.