Gareth Southgate believes 'excellent' squad depth can help England with Nations League scheduling issue

Joe Krishnan16 May 2019

Gareth Southgate is confident that his England squad can cope with the short turnaround between the Champions League showpiece and Nations League Finals.

Nine players included in the latest 27-man Three Lions squad will be in contention to play in the Champions League Final between Tottenham and Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano on June 1.

Kieran Trippier, Harry Winks, Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Eric Dier could all feature for Tottenham, while Liverpool trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez are likely to take part.

The showpiece event takes place just five days before England's first Nations League tie against the Netherlands in Guimaraes on June 6.

Southgate believes the lack of preparation time between the two games could prove difficult for his players, but is confident the depth of his "excellent" squad will help them to cope.

"It's going to be a fascinating challenge, not unique in that we had it last year with the Liverpool players [when they reached the final]," Southgate told reporters after announcing his squad.

"The turnaround is far quicker. Realistically, we won't have the players on the training pitch until Tuesday before the game on Thursday, so it's not an easy situation.

"But I've got an excellent squad, excellent competition for places, and we've always had to adapt."

Despite the short time frame between the two fixtures, Southgate refused to criticise Uefa, accepting that international managers often have to play second fiddle to the club calendar in the modern game.

"In international football, things are out of your control, so we have to make sure our decisions as staff are the right ones," he said.

"From our perspective we just have to deal with it. I guess maybe people didn't think about the possibility of having one nation having so many players involved in that final. That's the situation that we've got.

"They're both going to be brilliant occasions to be a part of and for our players, they're exactly the games we want them in."

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