England interim boss Lee Carsley explains why Maguire and Maddison were left out of squad

Lee Carsley has explained why Harry Maguire and James Maddison have been left out of the England squad for this month’s Nations League fixtures. Neither player will be involved against Greece and Finland after being overlooked for international selection.

Maguire was named in the squad for last month’s fixtures against Ireland and Finland but has been dropped after being surpassed by Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez in the pecking order at Manchester United.

Maddison, meanwhile, has not played for England since being cut from the preliminary squad ahead of Euro 2024.

Quizzed on why both players were overlooked, Carsley explained that he only left them out because he wanted to explore other options.

“It was a chance of having a look at other players, it’s nothing to do with form,” he said at a press conference. “It’s looking at the next two camps to look at other players.”

“The players left out all have a case but we saw the benefit in the last camp of the squad being fresh, feeling fresh and a lot of energy in it. It’s not just a copy and paste. I want them to feel like they all have earned their place in the squad.

“People want to know where they stand long-term. I’ve told all the players this is a short-term situation at their clubs. Harry is a player I’ve worked with in the past. He was very positive in the conversation we had.

“It was a case of talking to him about what my decision was. We have some really good centre-backs who we are keen to see play. Harry still has a really important part to play, not just in this squad but also in the campaign.”

Morgan Rogers was also denied a place in the England squad despite impressing at club level with Aston Villa. He will instead link up with the under-21s ahead of their upcoming games against Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

“There’s a lot of players that were close to being in this squad,” said Carsley when asked if Rogers was close to making the cut.

“The talent that we’ve got available for us, it would have been quite easy to name a 40-man squad and justify having them all in. The challenge is making sure that we pick a competitive squad that can win the two games.”