MX23RW : Tuesday, November 5 22:54:33| >> :600:465959:465959:

Gareth Southgate: 'England players can stake claim for World Cup places'

Southgate: 'England places up for grabs'
© Reuters
Gareth Southgate stresses that there are still places up for grabs for players in England's World Cup squad ahead of the friendly against Nigeria on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate has told his England players that there are still places up for grabs in the nation's World Cup squad and will be eager to see how they do against Nigeria on Saturday.

The Three Lions boss is getting his first chance to see his 23-man squad in match action against another qualified side ahead of their tournament opener against Tunisia on June 18.

Southgate has confirmed that Jesse Lingard will start against Nigeria, but insists that the Manchester United man is not directly vying against Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli for a starting berth in Russia.

Another key position yet to be decided is who will start as goalkeeper, with Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland seeking to pin down the number one role ahead of the uncapped Nick Pope.

"I don't think these are trial matches in that a bad performance rules someone out, but there are opportunities for people to really stake a claim in areas of the pitch where there is huge competition for places," Southgate told Sky Sports News.

"[The goalkeeping berth] will become apparent over the next five days. They are inexperienced in terms of senior international games but Pickford and Butland have the perfect path in terms of junior international tournaments and a lot of Premier League football under their belts."

Following the game against Nigeria, England wrap up their pre-World Cup friendly programme with a clash against Costa Rica on June 7.

ID:327394: cacheID:327394:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2795:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jordan Pickford in action for England against the Netherlands on March 23, 2018
Read Next:
Pickford: 'England will be ready for penalties'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!