Thursday 9 November 2017 15:03, UK
England manager Gareth Southgate has labelled talk of a club v country row as "nonsense" ahead of their friendlies against Germany and Brazil.
Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Harry Winks were forced to pull out of the squad, as were Manchester City's Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph, along with Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, while a hamstring problem ruled out Spurs playmaker Dele Ali ahead of the squad announcements.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has suggested Kane could return for the north London derby against Arsenal on November 18 - live on Sky Sports.
But Southgate remains convinced all of those absentees, including Kane, are genuine cases and insisted - as a former player - he would never "wheel players out until they break."
"I am hearing this talk of club v country but it is a nonsense," said Southgate ahead of Friday's friendly against Germany. "The players are injured and cannot play.
"I knew Harry Kane was in trouble because he stayed down [in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace]. Harry Kane doesn't stay down [unless he is injured].
"I knew already we had a potential problem. Both him and Harry Winks were scanned. Both scans our medical department have viewed and no way they are available for our two games.
"Spurs might risk them for the game against Arsenal but that is a different matter.
"Having been a player I am not a manager who wants to wheel players out until they break, so I don't take risks with players. It's their livelihood, it's their career.
"As a manager, you have a duty of care to your players to make sure things are done correctly.
"The last two international weeks, every player that has gone back from here has been available to play for their club the following weekend."
Southgate is convinced the games against Germany and Brazil will not be a waste of time, despite so many of his senior players having been ruled out.
Instead, he highlighted the need to experiment ahead of next year's World Cup in Russia, and cited Germany's example of being prepared to take chances as part of a long-term strategy in bringing new players into the international fold.
"It's a brilliant test for us. For the players to be playing in front of a full house - twice - at Wembley against top teams, they're the games you live for," he added.
"We are going to learn a hell of a lot and I have learnt an awful lot already this week. The squad I have picked is the best we have available. It's allowing me to work with players I might not have seen.
"This period between qualification and the finals has to be one of an element of experimentation. If we don't try things in these games, when are we going to learn about some of these guys for Russia?
"For some of these guys it's about beyond Russia as well. Germany took a younger team to the U21s finals, they took a young team to the Confederations Cup and that's how they work
"They are brave enough to take decisions that might get them results, might not, but they are constantly improving and evolving as a team and in my view, that's what we need to do."
