周四晚上，加雷斯·索斯盖特 (Gareth Southgate) 在确认 2024 年欧洲杯最终 26 人阵容后不久就接受了媒体采访。主教练德克兰·赖斯 (Declan Rice) 与他一起讨论了名单中包含和排除的球员，并预览了周五晚上的比赛对阵冰岛的最后一场热身赛。这是他们俩不得不说的话。索斯盖特关于哈里·马奎尔、贾拉德·布兰斯韦特、詹姆斯·麦迪逊和杰克·格里利什的缺席......毫无疑问，这是最困难的日子之一工作。我们是一支关系密切的球队，每个人都为过去几天缺席的小伙子们感受到了这一点。这对他们来说是毁灭性的打击，但他们接受打击的方式却令人惊叹。 Madders 和 Jack 给了我们一些不同的东西，但我们支持我们的决定。作为员工，我们已经一遍又一遍地讨论过这个问题，并且我们支持我们的理由。他们都是大人物，合作起来也很棒，所以我们不得不向他们传达这个消息，这让我们感到很遗憾。

The decision on Harry is totally about his recovery from injury. He wouldn't have been available for the group stages and there were lots of hurdles to clear before it was clear whether anything further than that would be possible. We don't have a clear bill of health across the backline and we need players who are fit and ready to go.I think it's a bit early for Jarrad. He's had a fabulous season and it was good to get him on the pitch on Monday. Of course ideally we'd have had a left-footed centre-back but I don't think it would have been the right call.Southgate on the balance of experience and youth…Some of the young players have done brilliantly to push experienced players out of the squad. They've been playing extremely well in the league and we saw some performances on Monday that underlined that. We've got 11 players who have been to three tournaments or more, with younger players who are playing so well we can't afford to ignore them. That's already brought a hunger, a competitiveness. The group have got to work together, they've got to realise that when we pick teams the subs will be key to us doing well in each match. We need to create those bonds.

Southgate on selecting three strikers…All of Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney have different profiles. They all offer something different. We know Harry is the starter but with the demands of the boys across the season and the five-sub rule we have tremendous options.Southgate on Luke Shaw's fitness…I think you can take one gamble and this is a gamble we have enough evidence to believe can pay off. The fact he's a left-footer and gives us different attacking options as well meant it was a situation we wanted to explore. Luke has progressed really well. At the moment we think he could have some involvement in the second group game but he has to keep hitting the markers.

Rice on seeing teammates leave camp…It's been really tough. Madders and Jack are two of my best mates in the squad so to see them go is not a nice feeling. But they both said just now they wish us all the best. Obviously they're gutted. Managers have tough decisions to make and that's part of the role. They're really supportive of what we're about to do.Rice on Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton…We saw in the last camp against Brazil and Belgium what Kobbie can do and he fully deserves his place. He's been excellent for the last six months at club level.There's a difference between top level and on the cusp of being at the top level at the age of 20 and Adam is top level. He sees a pass, it's impressive the way he passes the ball. There's a crispness. He's really composed and relaxed. He's shocked the Palace boys in how well he's done. It's important we don't put too much pressure on him but England have an amazing midfielder coming through.