Gareth Southgate explains Marcus Rashford's England omission as Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are called up

Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have been left out of Gareth Southgate's latest England squad, while Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw retain their places.

This comes as a surprise to many, with both the aforementioned forwards having great starts to the season under Erik ten Hag, especially Marcus Rashford.

Rashford as scored three goals and provided two assists in six Premier League matches so far this season for Manchester United, with his latest conquest being a great display against league leaders Arsenal.

Jadon Sancho has had a similarly positive start to the season too, scoring a brilliant goal against Liverpool before following that up with a tidy finish against Leicester City and a well taken strike against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday.

It was expected that both players would regain their positions in Gareth Southgate's team, however they have both been omitted instead.

Speaking on Rashford, Southgate said: Marcus Rashford has shown some encouraging signs recently.

"He is a player we know well so if he can perform at a high level in the next few weeks, he of course will be under consideration (to go to the World Cup)."

Marcus Rashford has since confirmed that his absence is due to injury.

Despite both being demoted to the bench so far this season, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw have kept their spaces in the England squad.

Both players have been integral to Southgate's squad in the past, with both players netting for England in the latest EURO 2020 tournament last summer.

Speaking as to why the pair are still in the squad despite losing their places for their clubs, Southgate remarked: Clearly, we have a number of players including Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips who are not playing a lot of minutes with their club.

"It is not ideal, but we feel they have been, and can be, important players for us."

With this comment, it is clear that Southgate has selected the pair due to what he knows they can offer him despite their recent lack of good form at club level.

Another who has been called up to the England squad is Dean Henderson. Henderson is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from Manchester United, and has earned his call up after some good performances for the Midlands club so far.

We wish Henderson, Maguire and Shaw all the best and hope they come back without any injuries!