England coach Gareth Southgate has explained axing Dele Alli from his latest squad.
Tottenham midfielder Alli has only just returned from injury but, while Southgate admitted dropped players is the hardest part of his job, he insisted he will never pick players on reputation or name as was the case in the past.
England boss Southgate said: I think when you're selecting a squad, the players need to see some sort of meritocracy when possible, and like I said in there, to bring those guys back in, who am I going to leave out?
With Dele [Ali] and Alex [Oxlade-Chamberlain] in particular, they haven't really had the number of games this year to get themselves into a rhythm. They're both recovering from different injuries, one long term, one a bit shorter term.
So, I'm expecting those guys to really push - you know they are both fighters, there have been good conversations with both of them. The pressure is on guys who go in to play well and impress.
But we want to look at some of the young players. Let's invest time in some of those younger players. Let's have a closer at them, knowing that we've got to keep winning matches now by exposing people to the level and the environment and seeing how they cope with it."
