Three Manchester United players called up for England

England manager Gareth Southgate has chosen three Manchester United players in his squad for the upcoming international break. Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young have all been called up to face Italy and the Netherlands.

Rashford and Young have likely earned their spot on the back of their excellent performances against Liverpool, while Lingard’s place looks to be a reward for his general improvement through the season. Whether any of them have a place in Southgate’s first XI is an open question, though if we’re being honest, tBB has absolutely no idea what Southgate’s first XI looks like.

Of those that have missed out, Chris Smalling will probably be feeling the hardest done by, omitted in favour of (among others) James Tarkowski and Alfie Mawson. While he’s not exactly been imperious in the last month or so, he’s been playing regularly, yet it appears that Southgate’s looking to experiment at the back. Luke Shaw, meanwhile, has barely seen the pitch in the last few weeks, so no surprise to see him miss out.

England play the Netherlands on Friday 23 March, then face Italy on Tuesday 27 March.