World Cup: Southgate speaks on Reece James’ absence

England national team managed Gareth Southgate in a statement spoke about his tough decision to leave Chelsea star, Reece James, out of his squad for ten 2022 world cup in Qatar.

James was left out owing to a knee injury he is currently out of action for Chelsea as well.

He had posted on social media on Wednesday indicating that his World Cup dream was over despite working harder to prove his fitness.

‘We had to make a very difficult call with Reece, who we think is a fantastic player,’ added Southgate.

‘He wasn’t going to be available, even if everything went perfectly, until the latter stages of the tournament and there were too many unknowns for us on that road to recovery.

‘I don’t think we can take a player who is not available for the group, that would be deemed arrogant in some circles. Even if everything went well and he was available and ready, we would be dropping him into a quarter-final after eight weeks out and that would be really demanding.

‘It was a tough call and Kyle [Walker, another right-sided defender] is a long way ahead of that.’