Southgate will not rest England starters and risk ‘shambles’ going into Euro 2024

27-Mar-2023 21:30:01 | Guardian

Long season looms before two England qualifiers in June
‘If we don’t select certain players it sends the wrong message’

Gareth Southgate will not risk a “shambles” at England’s next Euro 2024 qualifying camp by resting players after a long season. The manager was delighted at how his team began the campaign with wins against Italy in Naples and Ukraine at Wembley and has started to think about the fixtures in the summer.

England face Malta away on 16 June before entertaining North Macedonia at Old Trafford three days later. The final round of Premier League games is on 28 May, with the FA Cup final on 3 June. The Europa League final is on 31 May and the Champions League final on 10 June, meaning Southgate’s players will have breaks of varying lengths before Malta and North Macedonia.