Newcastle striker Wilson, who has helped his side up to fourth in the Premier League this season with six goals but has not played for the Three Lions since 2019, got the nod above Brentford’s Toney as Southgate unveiled his 26-man squad for the World Cup, which begins in nine days’ time.
However, Toney is believed to have a Football Association charge relating to historical bets he made on football hanging over him. He was named in Southgate’s squad in September but is yet to make his international debut.
Southgate (pictured) insists he has ‘not had that conversation’ and that would not have stopped him selecting Toney, who has scored nine goals for his club this term.
‘We think Callum’s just in that really rich vein of form and has been with us a little bit more, been on the pitch with us, we know him a little bit better,’ said the England manager, who has also recalled Marcus Rashford.
‘We’ve then got back up for that position with Raheem (Sterling), with
Marcus. That was the process. The rest, I don’t know so much about. We have continued to pick players in the past when they’ve been on a charge but I don’t know how that’s going to play out and what the timing of that, or how serious that would be.’
Rashford returns after not kicking a ball for his country since missing his penalty against Italy in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out but having rediscovered his form for Manchester United under current boss Erik ten Hag.
‘He’s looking more like the player we’ve seen – I still think he can be more and I hope we can help with that and benefit from that,’ added Southgate. The Three Lions boss, 51, claims it would be ‘pointless’ to set out a target in Qatar but admitted it is a ‘totally unique’ tournament.
Southgate also revealed it is ‘not the case’ that Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips, who are returning from injury, would definitely miss England’s Group B opener against Iran on November 21.
He said: ‘I don’t think we can take a player who is not available for the group. That would be deemed arrogant in some circles. Kyle is not back in full training yet but he will be available before the end of the group stage.
‘Kalvin is a super player and we feel that is a risk worth taking because
generally his fitness is good.’
Arsenal defender Ben White, who can play at right-back or centre-half, won a World Cup recall but there was no place in the squad for AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace or West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen, as well as Toney and Roma striker Tammy Abraham.
Southgate, who did not name any players specifically put on standby for Qatar, explained: ‘Tammy’s had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time.’
The final list will be submitted to Fifa on Monday after the last pre-tournament round of Premier League fixtures.
We won’t be silenced by Fifa, says England manager
England manager Gareth Southgate will not bow to Fifa’s request to speak about nothing but football in Qatar.
The World Cup, which begins next weekend, takes place in a country where
homosexuality can be punishable by death and has been tainted by the the Gulf state’s human-rights record.
Organisers Fifa wrote to participating teams asking them to ‘let football take
centre-stage’ but Southgate said yesterday: ‘Frankly, I will choose if I speak or not and I am sure the players will as well.
‘I don’t think we are necessarily going to be swayed by that communication. We have to make sure our energies are towards the football but we will speak when asked. We will answer questions and rightly so.’
MORE : We’ve seen Qatar World Cup ‘hotels’ for fans and our advice is: really don’t go
MORE : England boss Gareth Southgate explains Conor Gallagher World Cup selection and mentions unlucky Arsenal absentee
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