Lee Carsley takes strong stance on Harry Maguire's England future

England interim manager Lee Carsley has insisted Harry Maguire still has a future in international football, despite dropping the Manchester United defender from his latest squad.

A firm favourite of former boss Gareth Southgate, Maguire started Carsley's first game in charge last month but has been left out of the squad this time around, having struggled for minutes at club level behind Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez.

Carsley, however, insisted his decision to omit Maguire had nothing to do with his limited role at Old Trafford and instead argued he is simply keen to get a closer look at as many players as possible.

"It was a chance of having a look at other players," Carsley said. "It's nothing to do with form. 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 a 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.

"Harry is a player I've worked with in the past. He was very positive in the conversations we have. 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."

England take on Greece and Finland this month looking to maintain their perfect start to life in Nations League B.

Chelsea's Levi Colwill, Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa, Manchester City's John Stones and Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi are the four centre-backs in Carsley's squad, with versatile Manchester City veteran Kyle Walker also returning to the group.

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