Gareth Southgate explained some of his decisions as England prepare to host Italy in an international friendly tonight.
It kicks off at Wembley at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), click here for the line-ups and Liveblog.
“We picked the team to keep some stability, as we made good progress the other night, obviously we need to look at other players tonight and it’s a really good test for us,” manager Southgate told ITV.
Gareth Southgate explained some of his decisions as England prepare to host Italy in an international friendly tonight.
It kicks off at Wembley at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), click here for the line-ups and Liveblog.
“We picked the team to keep some stability, as we made good progress the other night, obviously we need to look at other players tonight and it’s a really good test for us,” manager Southgate told ITV.
“James Tarkowski has done very well for us and with his club, he fits the way we want to play, and it’s good to have some options at centre-back. We are very happy with the players who have played there up to now, but we need to see other guys who could come into the squad this summer.”
Southgate was asked about once again choosing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jesse Lingard in place of Delle Ali after Friday’s 1-0 win away to the Netherlands.
“They were both excellent the other night. As advanced midfielders we need players that can break forward, get into the box and score goals. With the way we like to play, that’s an important factor in the team.
“We wanted to keep some continuity and Dele’s not been able to train fully this week, but of course he’s a very important player for us.
“I’d like see a little bit more composure on the final ball, the quality of our crosses can improve, but we’ve got big numbers forward in a controlled way. That means we can create more chances and if we create chances, we’ve got the guys who can finish them off.
“We’ve had a really good week, so we want to finish that with a high.”