Gareth Southgate has revealed that Tammy Abraham’s lack of game time at Chelsea cost him his place in the England squad.
Abraham was left out of the Three Lions squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins was called up in his place.
Abraham has fallen out of favour at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel, not playing for the Blues for a month. That has left his hopes of a place at the European Championship in major doubt.
Southgate also said Leeds forward Patrick Bamford is ahead of Abraham in his thinking and will be drafted into the squad if there is an injury.
Speaking after announcing his squad on Thursday, Southgate said: “There were some close calls and I felt we wanted an extra striker in the squad.
“We are really pleased with Harry [Kane], really pleased with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and what they have done.
“Tammy Abraham has not really been involved for Chelsea over the last 4-6 weeks and both Ollie and Patrick, in particular, their goals record has been good.
“We like the personalities of both. Ollie is a player we have had less interaction with in the past, it is going to be good to get to know him. We like his pressing, we like the speeds and the runs in behind.
“He has got some improvement to make in linking the game but for his first season in the Premier League and at a big club he has done exceptionally well.
“That has been a really close call, because all of the things I have said about Ollie, I could have said about Patrick as well.
“He is very unfortunate and, who knows, we could be sitting here in a few days and Patrick is a player we are very much looking at as well.”
