Darren Bent believes that England manager Gareth Southgate has made the right decision when it comes down to the exclusion of one key forward from his 30-man squad for the European Championships.

England are one of the favourites to win the European Championships this summer and this may well be the best chance for Gareth Southgate's side to win a major tournament under his tutelage and considering the players he has at his disposal, it wouldn't be a good look if his side didn't go far in the tournament.

Southgate has named his provisional squad ahead of next month's tournament in Germany and it is fair to say there have been some controversial exclusions from his squad.

Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Jadon Sancho and Nick Pope are just some of the names who miss out but perhaps one of the more surprising names to miss out is Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

He points out Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, arguing he was simply more deserving of the call-up.

"For whatever reason his body language just hasn't been there this season, in terms of his work-rate, the effort that he is putting in. He has not been good enough," Bent said.

"He plays on that left-hand side. He says he doesn't want to play centre-forward. When you look at the likes of Anthony Gordon all season, he has done very well. We know that Phil Foden can play on the left, Player of the Season.

"I think there are too many options on that left-hand that are playing too well to warrant getting left out.

"So, if Rashford went and Anthony Gordon didn't go, people would go, 'What's going on here?' It makes no sense."

Rashford's struggles After what was one of the best season's in Rashford's career in the 2022-23 campaign with 30 goals to his name, the Englishman has had an inconsistent season with problems off the pitch leading to poor form on it.

He has lost the support of certain sections of the Old Trafford faithful and this exclusion from Southgate's team, after what was a promising World Cup campaign in 2022, will be a blow for the 26-year-old.

Rashford signed a new contract at Old Trafford last summer but has struggled to kick on and prove that he can be a consistently brilliant player for the Red Devils. This is yet another blow for the Englishman.