GARETH SOUTHGATE has revealed why Cole Palmer didn’t play a single minute of England’s recent friendlies.
The Chelsea ace was part of The Three Lions squad for their matches against Brazil and Belgium but didn’t play in either match.
Fans thought the in-form Blues man would be a shoo-in to feature in one of the matches, which Southgate didn’t play him in due to his lack of training.
When asked if this was a missed camp for Marcus Rashford, Southgate said: “Well, I wanted to see Anthony Gordon.
“I think he’s been excellent for his club. And Marcus got on in the first game. But I wanted to see Gordon again.
“I thought James Maddison coming on would be able to have an impact and, of course, Jarrod Bowen has also had a really good camp.
“So there’s competition for places.
“And it’s a bit of a shame that Cole Palmer missed so much training that we weren’t able to put him into the game against Belgium.
“I wouldn’t rule Cole out of that equation, either.”
Palmer has been a shining light in what has been a dismal season for Chelsea, who are languishing in 11th place in the Premier League.
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The former Manchester City man has scored 16 goals and provided 12 assists in 37 appearances in all competitions this campaign.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino recently said of the attacking midfielder: “He is a player with an amazing talent.
“It is a player that understands the game. He has the quality and the talent to see the situation and to read the game in another aspect.
“He can play from the right, striker or in behind the striker.
“We try to give him freedom because in this type of game he can find the best position to help the team.
“For me, [the best part] is when he presses and then the intuition to get the ball back.
“He is still young, but he is doing fantastically for us.”
Palmer was back in action at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on Wednesday.
He’s expected to be in the starting XI on Saturday when the West Londoners welcome Prem strugglers Burnley to Stamford Bridge.
