Gareth Southgate has finally shown some bottle

The provisional England squad for the Euros unveiled by manager Gareth Southgate contains one notable omission: Jordan Henderson. That’s a big surprise, not because the midfielder deserves to be on the plane to Germany this summer, but for what it says about the thinking of the normally ultra-loyal Southgate, who is often accused of picking his personal favourites for the squad, regardless of club form.

The England manager had this to say about why he left Henderson out: ‘The determining factor was the injury he picked up in the last camp. He missed five weeks and wasn’t able to get back up to the level of intensity. It was a difficult decision. He will be a miss. He’s an exceptional individual and fantastic human being. He’s been in that leadership role for a long time.’