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FromTheSpot 3mos ago
“We’ll have a chat” about Luke Shaw’s availability, says Southgate
Source:FromTheSpot |

Following Switzerland's 2-0 win over Italy, Gareth Southgate's England know which team they'll be facing in Dusseldorf if they can defeat Slovakia on Sunday evening.

Addressing the media in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday, Southgate was accompanied by Harry Kane as the duo fielded questions about media criticism, Luke Shaw's fitness and what to expect from Slovakia.

What did Gareth Southgate say? England may be bolstered by the return of a fit left-back on Sunday. Although the England boss admitted that Luke Shaw "wouldn't be available to start," he stressed that "we'll have a chat with the medical team and see whether he could play a part."

The decision to include Shaw in the squad is one that has come under intense criticism since the moment the squad was announced, and that discontent with Southgate's decisions has been a prevalent theme throughout England's Group C campaign.

"The team needs the fans," reiterated Southgate, echoing his desperate cry following England's stalemate with Slovenia earlier this week.

"A team is never quite as good as people might think, and never quite as poor as people might think," Southgate told reporters, adding that "you're probably about 5% off where you'd like to be, so you've got to be careful not to throw things out the window."

The England boss was questioned by a German journalist as to what defeat would mean for the Three Lions - and his response was incredibly simple. "I'm not sure why we'd think about it going wrong the night before a game," he snapped back, emphasising that "we have to give a very good version of ourselves to win the game, it's as simple as that."

What did Harry Kane say? Harry Kane has set the Bundesliga alight since moving to Bayern Munich, but the forward has failed to have the same impact during EURO2024.

Asked about his form in front of goal, the ex-Tottenham striker suggested that he is "not going to complain... if it's not me who scores and we get through anyways."

He knows it won't be easy though: "They've got some great players - the biggest aspect is them as a team, because they like to press high with a lot of intensity... and use a pivot to control the game."

"It's going to be a tough game," he added, calling on fans to replicate the atmosphere from the second half of the Slovenia match which he highlights as "one of the best atmospheres I've been involved in."