Gareth Southgate insists Cole Palmer is still in the running for England’s friendly against Belgium on Tuesday evening.
The Chelsea midfielder has practiced with the team this week but was not present for England’s 1-0 loss to Brazil at Wembley on Saturday night and was not part of the matchday squad.
However, Palmer has not been completely ruled out and might get his third senior cap when Belgium comes to Wembley on Tuesday.
Jordan Henderson could also play after missing the defeat to Brazil.
When asked about Palmer and Henderson’s absence after England’s loss to Brazil, Southgate stated: ‘The two boys trained today, so they’ve come through that okay.
‘So they should join the group that will train tomorrow [Sunday], so we’ll go from there with that.
‘Tuesday, Belgium have played a different eleven, or close to, so they’re going to be a bit fresher.
‘But similar to tonight, we’re talking about a high-level game, brilliant experience for the players, a chance to see new players again, build towards the summer.
‘I’m not disappointed with the level of performance [against Brazil]. I know in the end when you lose a game there will always be a negative reaction towards losing, but I thought the 15 minutes to go, given all the changes we’d made, I thought the crowd were really with the team, they could see a lot of young players going in and doing well, a lot of inexperienced players going in and doing well, so I’m not down on the performance of the team at all.’
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