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Gareth Southgate is set to make bulk changes for England’s trip to Denmark after admitting his team is well below fitness for the match.
Southgate said it will be important to “keep the balance” between experience and freshness, as many of his England stars didn’t even start preseason training before joining England.
Three Lions boss Southgate hinted that he could stay with Captain Harry Kane despite his rust, but is ready to experiment with a 3-4-3 formation as he considers using it for the European Championships next summer.
That could mean opportunities for players like Conor Coady and Ainsley Maitland-Niles while there will be shakeups in other areas with Nick Pope, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mason Greenwood and Tyrone Mings waiting for an opportunity.
(Image: REUTERS)
Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish is also up for grabs, but he missed two days of training last week with an injury that may mean he doesn’t start but continues.
Southgate said: “I think the most important thing in the next few days will be to really assess who can do that, what gives us the freshness but maintains enough experience to keep the team balanced.
“Energy will be key. And I think you saw in the Icelandic game, particularly in the first 20 minutes, that sharpness of the game in all of our players.
(Image: Arni Torfason / BPI / REX / Shutterstock)
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“It’s impossible to expect them to be at their best, given not only the time since their last competitive games but also the shortage of training minutes, so the last part to come is that sharpness in the last third.”
Southgate says he will “evaluate” goalkeepers before Tuesday, but also admitted he wants to experiment with three defenders to give them more options.
He added: “We can’t just be rigid. We don’t want to limit ourselves to one way of playing if we knock on the door and don’t get the amount of shots we wanted, as happened against Iceland.
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