Realistic of our expectations of youngsters but Jadon Sancho is in the mix, claims Gareth Southgate

Realistic of our expectations of youngsters but Jadon Sancho is in the mix, claims Gareth Southgate

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England play the Czech Republic next

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Gareth Southgate has admitted that Jadon Sancho is in the mix for England’s Euro 2020 game against the Czech Republic but they’re realistic of the youngsters playing in their first tournament. The forward has yet to make an appearance for Three Lions at Euro 2020 but was benched against Scotland.

While England won their first group game against Croatia, the Three Lions struggled to do the same against Scotland with the game ending as a goalless draw. It saw many criticize Gareth Southgate for his choices with many fans and critics alike upset with the fact that Jadon Sancho wasn’t brought on despite the fact that the forward was on the bench. The Borussia Dortmund starlet thrived for the Bundesliga side in the 2020/21 season but hasn’t played a single game at the tournament.

However, that could change in near future with Gareth Southgate admitting that Sancho could be in the mix for the game against Czech Republic. The England boss also added that they do have a few options and many of those include their younger players but they want to be realistic about their expectations for the youngsters playing in their first tournament.

"We've got some explosive options and a lot of them are young players and experiencing a big tournament for the first time. So as a coaching staff we are realistic about our expectations of them as individuals. Jadon is in that mix. He's trained well the last few days and of course we have got those options and those decisions to make," Southgate said, reported Goal.

The England squad, however, has been filled with players who were part of the Premier league’s intense recently concluded season including a few players who played in the European finals. That saw Southgate admit that it has affected the team’s chemistry because the same players couldn’t play and thus that needs to be worked on. He also added that the team that faced Scotland were a “relatively inexperienced group” and this will improve slowly.

"I think a lot of those players we didn't have for the friendlies, so the chemistry is something we didn't have a lot of opportunity to work on. We've got to just keep working on that. We know there are some very good players in there, we know they can perform better than they did (against Scotland) and we've got to help them to find that level.

"The important thing is that everyone gets behind the team and the players and they're going to need to feel that support and to feel that warmth. This is a relatively inexperienced group, I think the third least caps in the tournament. Against Scotland, it was a young team so that's a different experience for a lot of them than they've ever faced before.

"They've just about survived it. We want to be better and that's what we're going to work through in the next few days before we play the Czech Republic," he added.

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