3 England players Southgate should drop ahead of Spain clash

England welcome 2010 FIFA World Cup champions and Euro 2012 winners Spain to Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night to draw a close to their final international break of the calendar year.

After defeating rivals Scotland 3-0 at the national stadium on Friday evening, Gareth Southgate preserved his unbeaten run as Three Lions interim manager, having beaten Malta 2-0, drawn against Slovenia and fending off the Scots last week.

The likes of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge all impressed against Gordon Strachan’s visitors last week, but Southgate could look to shuffle around England’s starting XI against The Red Fury considering it is only an international fixture, with Tom Heaton, Ryan Bertrand, Jesse Lingard, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere, Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford surely desperate to add to their individual international caps.

So in the 46-year-old’s final game in interim charge on Tuesday, Shoot! highlights three players that the former Middlesbrough and England Under-21 boss should drop against the Spaniards.

John Stones

The 22-year-old looked careless and sloppy at times during last week’s 3-0 victory over Scotland.

Despite knowing playing Stones at the heart of your defence can be risky, given his playing style, he lost the ball too many times in the first-half to justify keeping his starting spot against Spain.

Although he made a crucial block to deny Robert Snodgrass pulling a goal back in the second-half, Gareth Southgate could opt to bring in Stones’ former Everton team-mate, Phil Jagielka, to partner Chelsea’s Gary Cahill instead.

After Friday’s display, it is clear to see the Manchester City star is far from the finished product, but a bright prospect nonetheless.

Eric Dier

The Tottenham midfielder also had a disappointing display against the Scots, with Dier unable to make himself heard or intercept anything of note in the middle of the park, which we have been so used to seeing from the Spurs stars in recent months.

Arguably; it was easy to forget he started for the Three Lions’ last week, so Southgate may drop Dier to give the recalled Jack Wilshere a run out at Wembley, although he could also choose to drop Jordan Henderson into a deeper midfield role.

Raheem Sterling

Despite an impressive start to his domestic campaign with Manchester City, seemingly largely down to the arrival of manager Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium, Sterling failed to shine on the international stage against Scotland.

Although he is still England’s most attacking threat in terms of speed and skill, his woeful second-half miss last Friday summed up his evening, one where he was simply targeted by the Scots and bullied off the ball.

The 21-year-old could well make way for fellow winger(s) Theo Walcott, Andros Townsend or Jesse Lingard, who will be desperate to feature and add to their individual tally of international caps.