Captain Harry Kane is unhappy with the number of players who have withdrawn from the latest England squad, insisting “England comes before club”.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