England squad announcement LIVE: Lee Carsley reveals selection for upcoming Nations League fixtures

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has backed James Maddison to get selected for England when Lee Carsley’s squad is announced this afternoon.

Postecoglou said: “I think Madders has been outstanding so far this year. His form from the first game has been really strong physically.

“I’ve said a few times that he’s back at the levels where he can play in the manner he wants to and do everything he wants in a game.

“In the last two or three weeks he’s had an effect on goals and assists as well, which always gets highlighted with players in his position, but his general play has been outstanding.

“I’m sure if he continues in that vein he will be in the conversation for England squads moving forward.”

James Maddison hopes to return to the England fold this week after being omitted from Lee Carsley’s first squad announcement back in September,

“I didn’t think question one would be straight in with the England stuff,” Maddison said.

“I want to be in the squad. It’s simple, every England player will tell you that. I know Lee Carsley, I worked with him at Coventry. He was my assistant with the England Under-21s under Aidy Boothroyd.

“I feel really good at the minute. I feel as fit as I’ve ever felt, really. I feel like my fitness is at an optimum level.

“Having a break over the summer, not going to the Euros, it does help. I know it’s been spoken about with Erling Haaland how he’s had a summer off and he hit the ground running and I feel the same. I feel alive on the pitch at the minute.

“I always say the same cliched thing when I get asked about the England stuff. It’s if I just take care of my performances for Spurs, which I feel like I’m doing at the minute to a high level, then the other stuff will take care of itself, hopefully.”

Jordan Pickford believes engaging with Black History Month is a strong way to raise awareness of the issues faced in society in regards to race.

He said: “It’s a really important thing. We want everybody to feel comfortable and happy in their lives.

“Within football and within this squad specifically, we’ve all come from different cultures and backgrounds. We’re proud of that and I hope we all come together as one.

“We will always aim to help each other.”

Jordan Pickford says he is proud of the way England have been a beacon for diversity but says more progress can still be made.

He said: “I think we’ve been very good at it [raising awareness for diversity]. Not just us, but the Premier League and other nations, it’s definitely got better over the last few years.

“We’ve set our stall out in the England setups I’ve been involved in and we’ll continue to do that. We’ve been very open with it.

“We have to make sure that continues to progress. We’ve shown the world what we stand for when we wear the England badge but we know there is work to do and we will continue to aim for everybody to be treated correctly.”

Uefa has written to the UK government to warn that England could be expelled from Euro 2028 over concerns about “government interference in the running of football”.

The warning comes following government plans to set up an Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for the men’s game, with a bill to establish the regulator reintroduced in July.

In a letter to new UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Uefa general secretary Theodore Theodoridis emphasised that “football regulation should be managed by the national federation”, and that the absence of government interference is “one of Uefa’s fundamental requirements”.

Interim England manager Lee Carsley named a surprising squad for his first two fixtures in charge of the national side with four uncapped players included.

Those were Angel Gomes, Tino Livramento, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke and three of the four (minus Livramento) made their senior England debuts during the last camp.

Carsley also omitted Marcus Rashford, James Maddison and Kyle Walker while Kieran Trippier decided to retire from international football and Jude Bellingham missed out due to injury.

Here’s a reminder of Carsley’s last squad:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

How many players will make the one announced this afternoon?

Harry Maguire is confident the current England squad, and the ones picked under Gareth Southgate, will leave a positive legacy in terms of values off the field.

He said: “I hope and think it’s something we’ll be remembered for. It’s part of our legacy.

“The journey we went on under Gareth was obviously really good on the pitch but we had great values off it. We’ve been a welcoming group and we’ve understood the importance of social causes.

“We try to improve things off the pitch and put things in place for future generations. Hopefully that’s what we’ve done.”

Harry Maguire spoke about how the England squad have been given a responsibility to display ‘correct values’ when the represent the national side.

Speaking about Black History Month in October, Maguire explained that it is important that any player, regardless of skin colour or other differences, should play football if they are good enough.

The Manchester United defender said: “It’s really important as a group of players and staff, and within the game as a whole, that if you’re good enough, you play. Nothing else matters.

“Within the coaching setup over the last few years and now with the new one it’s been drummed into us that we have a responsibility to show the correct values. That’s what we aim to do.”

If England’s future opponents want to conduct an unusual scouting mission, they could find themselves scouring academy training sessions in the Midlands on Friday. The tactics Lee Carsley is considering using for Harry Kane or Jude Bellingham could be road-tested on some unknown youngsters. But this, for England’s interim manager, is life as normal.

Friday, for Carsley, has meant academy coaching; the Strachan Foundation, established by his former Coventry manager Gordon Strachan and based in Warwick, is near his home. For a man who believes his greatest strength is his coaching, it enables him to work not just with England’s elite, but youngsters without a professional club. And now they might get a first glimpse of his plans.

“I’ve got a few ideas which I want to try and it’ll be no different,” Carsley said. “I’ve got ideas from here that I want to try with them, leading up to the next game. There’s still a couple of things I want to improve on in terms of out of possession. So myself and James [Ryder, England’s senior performance analyst] will go down there on Friday.”

Carsley’s first England squad was an interesting one, as he picked four uncapped players – all of whom he had worked with extensively at U21 level.

Tino Livramento, Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes and Noni Madueke were the players called up for the first time, and all four made their debuts.

Notable players such as Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer weren’t in the squad as they were still recovering from Euro 2024.