Gareth Southgate has confessed that Manchester United duo Jadon Sancho and Jesse Lingard have not been playing enough football at club level to justify a spot in his latest England squad.
The Three Lions are set to face Albania and San Marino later this month as they look to seal their place at the 2022 World Cup.
Sancho has been used sporadically by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since his £72.9m move from Borussia Dortmund during the summer and has been an unused substitute in three of his side's last five Premier League games.
He has also been forced to settle for cameos off the bench in the Champions League of late, seeing a combined 20 minutes across the two games against Atalanta.
As for Lingard, he is yet to start a Premier League game this season, leading to Southgate admitting that a lack of football cost the Man Utd pair a spot in his latest squad.
"With Jesse and Jadon, they just aren't playing a lot of football compared to others in their positions," Southgate said (via The Telegraph).
"If you're playing regularly for your club, you've got a much better chance of us assessing how you're playing compared to the group.
"With these two lads, they've got great competition for places in the position they play. Both of them totally understand that, they know they've got to get playing for their clubs, and playing well. And then England is a bonus on the top. They have done well for us, I'm sure they will be back with us."
There was also no spot in the squad for United striker Mason Greenwood, who has not featured for England since picking up his solitary cap against Iceland in 2020.
"I discussed the situation last time so we've been there," Southgate said of Greenwood's absence, referring back to previous comments insisting he does not want to overwork the young striker by calling him up for international duty as well.
The trio's absence means defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are United's only representatives in the squad.
England will take on Albania on Friday 12 November, before ending their qualifying campaign with a trip to San Marino three days later.
Source : 90min