Thomas Tuchel brutally axes THREE England players on day of first World Cup qualifier including Cole Palmer replacement
THOMAS TUCHEL has axed Morgan Gibbs-White, Jarell Quansah and Aaron Ramsdale from his first matchday squad as England boss.
The Three Lions take on Albania this evening in a World Cup qualifier.
New boss Tuchel, 51, last week named a 26-man squad for this international window.
Due to Uefa rules, however, tonight’s matchday squad can only include 23 players; 11 starters and 12 substitutes.
This means that Tuchel has been forced omit three players from contention to play.
Gibbs-White, 25, missed out on the initial squad but was drafted in due to fitness concerns over Cole Palmer.
Opening up on his late call-up, the Nottingham Forest star said: “It was about 4 or 5 o’clock on Sunday. The manager, Thomas, sent me a message to say ‘are you free to talk?’ And I replied within seconds ‘yeah’.
“He phoned me up and said ‘are you still upset with me, or do you want to come and join us and fancy training tomorrow?’
“I said ‘I’d obviously love to come and join and train with the boys’, so, yes, I found out Sunday late afternoon-ish and I was just smiling from ear to ear.”
Quansah, meanwhile, was called up ahead of Everton standout Jarrad Branthwaite.
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The 22-year-old has been named in two previous squads, but is yet to earn his first cap.
Aaron Ramsdale is the unfortunate goalkeeper to miss out.
Jordan Pickford is expected to start between the sticks, with Dean Henderson and James Trafford on the bench.
Tuchel has confirmed that Harry Kane will remain his captain.
While Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are likely to start in midfield.
The German made some surprise decisions when naming his first squad.
Veterans Kyle Walker, Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford all earned call-ups.
While Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly are in contention to earn their first caps.