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England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted his disappointment at losing Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe to injury.
THE LOWDOWN: TOUGH SEASON
Smith Rowe had a fantastic season last term and was hoping to build on that performance this term. However, injuries have not been kind to him right since pre-season.
He has barely played for Mikel Arteta’s side this season and not long after he featured in the defeat at Manchester United, he suffered an injury setback. His recurring injury needed a surgery in order to get it done once and for all.
That act has hampered his chances at playing for Arsenal or England at the World Cup and he was rightly omitted when the list was made public by Southgate on Thursday.
THE LATEST: MANAGER’S DISAPPOINTMENT
Gareth Southgate named his England 26-man squad for the World Cup on Thursday and one Arsenal could have made it if not for injuries.
Others like Ben White joined Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale in receiving a call-up to Qatar, and Emile Smith Rowe could have made it if he wasn’t injured.
Speaking in his post-squad-announcement press conference, Gareth Southgate reflected on the changes he’d made from the Euro 2020 squad, admitting he might even have made another change or two if not for injuries.
“We’ve looked at one or two others, there was a period where Emile Smith Rowe had a go and was playing really well,” Southgate said.
“We’ve sadly lost him (to injury). Obviously, we’ve lost Reece (James), but Reece was with us in the Euros. And Ben (Chilwell).”
THE VERDICT: RELIEF
For Smith Rowe to have been mentioned alongside these regulars is really something nice to see. Quite a bad time for the youngster to miss a tournament, but he has plenty of international tournaments ahead of him.
Right now, he needs to focus on bouncing back in order to be involved with the national team again.
