England manager Gareth Southgate has recently addressed the situation with England that there is less and less players to choose from, and stated he may have to look into players plying their trade in the Championship as a result.
“I can’t rule out players in the Championship now as our pool is getting smaller and smaller,” he admitted in a recent interview. “One of our biggest concerns is playing time for English players, shown by a number of the squad that came with us to Russia not getting opportunities to play.”
With this in mind, former-Leeds United and Middlesbrough forward Noel Whelan has had his say on the matter, claiming that Middlesbrough defensive duo George Friend and Aden Flint should be in the England squad in the near future.
Whilst appearing on the Sporting Life Championship podcast, Whelan gave his opinion on who should be catching the England boss’ eye, if he does indeed look to the second tier of English football.
“I think they’re two players that he has got to be looking at for that international set-up at some stage,” Whelan said of Friend and Flint.
“Friend has been very consistent over a number of years now in playing that wing-back role. Loads of quality is there.”
However, although former-Boro defender Southgate may look to the Championship, he will most likely look towards a younger crop of players to make their way into the England set-up. With Flint aged 29, and Friend aged 30, it could be a little bit too late for the Middlesbrough pair.
