Gareth Southgate has urged Emile Smith Rowe and Conor Gallagher to make themselves permanent fixtures with England’s senior team and press their case for World Cup places.
Smith Rowe and Gallagher were both initially selected for England Under-21s for this international break but got unexpected opportunities as a result of injuries and the Arsenal winger made his debut as a substitute in Friday’s 5-0 thrashing of Albania.
The on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder was added to the squad on Sunday and could get his bow in Monday night's game against San Marino, when England need a point against the team 210th and last in Fifa’s rankings to book their place in next year’s World Cup.
They could have a chance to play in Serravalle after Jack Grealish, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling withdrew from the squad following the Albania game. Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford, James Ward-Prowse and Declan Rice had already pulled out before then, meaning Smith Rowe and Gallagher are among just eight midfielders and forwards left.
Both were chosen ahead of more experienced players such as Jadon Sancho, Jesse Lingard, James Maddison and Dele Alli but while Southgate stressed the two 21-year-olds were picked on merit, he stressed it was easier to move them up from another England squad. Callum Hudson-Odoi had rejected an Under-21 call-up.
“Those two boys have earned their opportunity,” Southgate said. “There is great competition for places. If they play well, there is the chance to stay with us.
“It would be easier in the short term to bring in an older player but we think Conor and Emile are playing better than others we could have called in. The door is never closed [to older players]. I like the idea of bringing in young players because you are investing in England’s future.”
Gallagher and Smith Rowe, who have both scored four Premier League goals this season, were both in the England team who won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 and Southgate said of the former: “I have been very impressed with him. He started the season very well at Palace and we talked about him when he named the original squad as someone we were keen to keep an eye on.”
Sterling has a personal issue while Henderson and Grealish have been ruled out with minor injuries that Southgate feels should not sideline for them for long.
It means he has to make at least two changes, with Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka the potential beneficiaries, but Southgate said: “We want to make sure that the team we start with is a statement that we are here to mean business, that we are taking this very seriously. We haven’t qualified yet for the World Cup and whenever you are bringing players into the team, you want stability as well. We always want strong leadership on the pitch.”
The absence of the vice-captain Henderson and Sterling, who has also skippered his country in the past, and that desire for leadership could afford Harry Kane a chance to get closer to Wayne Rooney’s national record of 53 goals.
Kane, who has 44 goals, has not started any of the three 2021 matches against Andorra and San Marino as his understudies got chances and Southgate said: “He is quick to let me know that he hasn’t played in those games and there is a balance. One of our strengths in the last few years has been that we have had a really good squad mentality. Guys who have been starting in some of the bigger matches recognise they have a role to support everyone else when the time is right.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
