Gareth Southgate refuses to rule Marcus Rashford & Jadon Sancho out of World Cup contention

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Gareth Southgate refuses to rule Marcus Rashford & Jadon Sancho out of World Cup contention

England managed Gareth Southgate has left the door open for Manchester United pair Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to be included in the Three Lions’ World Cup squad, despite neither being involved in the last round of internationals before the list for Qatar will be announced.

A resurgent Rashford, who was involved in five goals across United’s four Premier League wins prior to the September international break, missed on an England call-up because of injury.

But Sancho, also substantially better club form this season, was overlooked.

England’s recent struggles continued this month with defeat to Italy signalling relegation from the top tier of the UEFA Nations League and a draw against Germany extending a win-less run to six games, already the Euro 2020 finalists' worst record since 2014.

Even though Southgate will have no more opportunities to witness players at close quarters, he hasn’t ruled out recalling Rashford and Sancho, or indeed anyone already known to him.

“We would be foolish not to keep an open mind to especially players that have worked with us before, who we know and know us and can slot in pretty comfortably,” the England boss explained following Monday night’s 3-3 draw with Germany.

“The way Eric Dier has played across the two games is a really good example of that. He didn’t need the adaptation, he fits in with the group immediately,” he added.

“So those guys in particular [that have been part of previous squads] we’re monitoring closely.”

It would, however, appear to rule out any shock late call-ups before the World Cup for any player that hasn’t previously been involved in a senior England squad.