Captain Harry Kane is unhappy with the number of players who have withdrawn from the latest England squad, insisting “England comes before club”.
Nine players have dropped out of the squad for Lee Carsley’s final two matches as interim manager before Thomas Tuchel takes charge in January.
“I think England comes before anything. England comes before club,” Kane told ITV Sport.
“England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.”
When asked if the desire to play for England has drifted this international break, Kane said: “Yeah, it’s a shame this week obviously.
“I think it’s a tough period of the season, maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill have dropped out.
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite was one of the replacement players called up to the squad, until he became the ninth player to withdraw.
Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah is set to be his replacement, having trained with the team for the past two days.
England likely must beat Greece in Athens on Thursday and Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday if they are to be promoted to League A of the Uefa Nations League.
Why England’s players withdrew
Full-back Alexander-Arnold was forced off in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
Midfielder Rice was a doubt going into Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday with a knock and was subbed off in the 71st minute. He is also playing with a broken toe.
Saka was also a doubt, but the winger did start for Arsenal before limping off late on. He was injured playing for England in the last international break and missed two Arsenal games.
Chelsea’s Palmer played the duration of the match, despite being a doubt before kick-off.
Goalkeeper Ramsdale reportedly fractured his finger during Southampton’s 2-0 defeat by Wolves on Saturday.
Forward Grealish was named in England’s squad despite not featuring in any of Manchester City’s last seven matches. Guardiola was unhappy with England picking Grealish, saying he had asked Grealish about the situation and the player had told him he wanted to report.
“Jack has had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries,” added Guardiola.
Branthwaite had been nursing a slight knock from Everton’s match against West Ham and subsequently returned to his club.
Reasons for withdrawals from Chelsea defender Colwill and Manchester City midfielder Foden remain unknown, with both men playing 90 minutes at the weekend.