Gareth Southgate has named Ivan Toney to his England squad for Monday night’s match against Germany, but Trent Alexander-Arnold has been left out.
The 23-man matchday squad for the Nations League match at Wembley must be reduced by five players.
These five players are Jack Grealish, who is suspended, Fikayo Tomori, Jarrod Bowen, James Ward-Prowse, and Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold.
Bukayo Saka, who played at left wing-back against Italy but received a booking that prevents him from playing on Monday night at Wembley, was replaced by Grealish for the final 19 minutes of the match.
Everton winger Andros Townsend responded to the team announcement by telling talkSPORT: “It’s obviously a surprise. Trent Alexander-Arnold is undoubtedly one of the best ball-handlers in all of football when there isn’t an attacking threat present.
“That is a surprise. If Ivan Toney has to be in the squad, then someone has to miss out, unfortunately it sounds like it is Trent this time.
“You get your opportunity every day in training. Yes, in an ideal world, you want to see Ivan Toney in the game but you get a week’s training, you still get a whole week of him training against your first team defenders or your second choice.
“It doesn’t always have to be in a game situation.”
Toney, however, will have the opportunity to make his England debut after being left out of the team to play Italy.
When Southgate spoke to the media on Sunday, he was unsure whether to give the Brentford striker any playing time.
He said: “First and foremost, it has been great for him to be with us and to see how we work.
“Of course, everybody wants to get into the team and on the pitch, but you have a better chance of doing that well when you’ve been here longer, used to how we play, and comfortable with the other players.
“I think, whatever happens tomorrow [Monday], this has been a useful exercise for him and for us.
“I remember I was in the stands for the first two international camps, they were a bit shorter, that was the way Terry Venables embedded me into the group.
“Sometimes we’ve done it that way, sometimes we haven’t. I understand the push because we are so close to a World Cup, but there is also life for Ivan Toney beyond the World Cup as well.
“He’s very much in the frame. What he does with him club between now and then is very important.”
