England’s interim manager Lee Carsley has conceded he cannot fit Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer into the same side in the forthcoming Nations League matches.
The trio were named yesterday in England’s squad for the games against Greece and Finland — the first time Carsley has had the luxury of picking all three.
But while the boss did not rule out unleashing them together in the future, doing so in this set of fixtures is unlikely.
‘With the period of the season we are in, I can justify why we wouldn’t start them all at the same time in terms of the amount of games they’re playing, what they are going back to and what they have come from,’ said Carsley.
‘Some of the stages they are at in terms of just coming back from injury or not having that many minutes, we just need to find the balance.
Interim England manager Lee Carsley conceded that he will not be able to fit a trip of talented stars into his team for the Three Lions’ upcoming Nations League fixtures
Cole Palmer has been in stunning form this season, after shining in his debut campaign at Stamford Bride
Former England boss Gareth Southgate made concessions to include Jude Bellingham (left) and Phil Foden (right) in the same side
‘What’s important is we get them all on the pitch at some point and find the balance.
‘I went to a UEFA conference a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of the head coaches spoke about how many good players we’ve got, but they almost referred to it as a problem whereas I am thinking it’s a nice problem to have.
‘It might mean now and then one of them misses out.’
Asked whether he’d consider playing all three in the future, Carsley added: ‘You’d try and find a way of getting them into the team, yes. We’ve got to be creative.’
Carsley also opened the door to Jadon Sancho being recalled following his impressive start at Chelsea.
Carsley left the door open for Jadon Sancho to return to the England set-up following his impressive start to life at Chelsea
‘Jadon is a player who I really like, a player who has huge potential who has hopefully found a home where he feels rated, he feels loved,’ said Carsley. ‘He just needs time now to play.’
Spurs striker Dominic Solanke is back in the squad seven years after his last call-up but there is no place for Harry Maguire, Eberechi Eze, Tino Livramento and Jarrod Bowen.