England

Steven Gerrard: 'Harry Redknapp should name players that wanted to avoid England games'

By Simon Sinclair, Reporter | 23 June 2014

England captain Steven Gerrard believes that Harry Redknapp should name the players that wanted to avoid international duty when he was manager at Tottenham Hotspur.

England captain Steven Gerrard has called on Harry Redknapp to name the players he said tried to avoid international duty when he was Tottenham Hotspur boss.

Redknapp claimed that during his tenure at White Hart Lane players would approach him try to get them out of upcoming international fixtures.

Gerrard believes that the 67-year-old should name and shame those people for what he feels is "disgusting" behaviour if proven to be true.

He told reporters: "Should Harry not name them? If he's not naming them, I can't answer that. If it's the case, it's disgusting. For me, if a player doesn't want to be, he doesn't deserve to be here at a World Cup.

"Who? Name them. Is it Aaron Lennon? Kyle Walker? Andros Townsend? I don't know who he means. Five years ago? Ten years ago? Well, he should be embarrassed if there's one player.

"When you go down into the younger age groups, they're younger lads, they might not want to be away from their families. But when you're picked at this level and find any excuse not to be here, you don't deserve to be here."

England face Costa Rica in their final World Cup match on Tuesday.