has defended his decision to select and Jordan Henderson in his latest squad.
Former United skipper Maguire has been shunted even further down ’s pecking order this season and is yet to play a single minute of competitive action.
Maguire’s chances of resurrecting his club career have been boosted by injuries to Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw, following his decision to turn down a move to West Ham earlier this summer.
His presence in the 26-man squad named ahead of next month’s fixtures, however, owes more to the raft of injuries sustained by a host of English central defenders, rather than Southgate’s enduring loyalty.
Explaining his decision to retain Maguire and Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who is also yet to feature for his club this term, Southgate said: ‘With Harry Maguire, we’ve lost a lot of experienced players in terms of caps at centre-half so we’re giving some less experienced players to come in to the squad.
‘But unfortunately it looks like Tyrone [Mings] is out for most of the season, John Stones is out for this camp, Eric Dier hasn’t appeared in Tottenham’s squad.
‘So if I’m looking at all the players we’ve given caps to in the last few years, Conor Coady is also out and playing in the Championship now.
‘So there is a space there and I think for these two games it’s important we have some experience in that area of the pitch.
‘Clearly with Harry and with Kalvin Phillips it’s far from ideal that they’re not playing football but, similarly with Kalvin, I think Declan Rice was the only English player to start at the weekend as a single pivot. Kalvin is the next best positioned to do that.
Henderson, meanwhile, maintains his place ahead of the upcoming fixtures against Ukraine and Scotland, despite having left Liverpool in the summer for the vast riches on offer in the Saudi Pro League.
Southgate insists he has watched the 33-year-old in action for his new club Al-Ettifaq and is confident, for now at least, he merits a place in the squad.
‘We’ve watched every game the key as we move forward will be intensity of the league because of the heat.As well performance level we need to clearly monitor the level of the league, we’re assessing it and it’s changing all the time.’
‘I think we are supportive of the LGBTQ+ community,’ Southgate added when asked if picking a player plying his trade in a country with such a questionable human rights record sat comfortably with him. ‘A large number of the team and staff have relatives or friends from the community.
‘I can only talk on a personal level. I will try to be accepting of everyone’s cultures.
‘It’s not intentional that we would let down any of our fans but these are complex issues that we’re all trying to navigate.
“We’re picking a team for football reasons. There are lots of different club ownership models. There are a lot of different players who play in countries with different religious beliefs.’
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