England boss Gareth Southgate refuses to be drawn on Mourinho's criticism of Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling

James Benge7 November 2016

England interim manager Gareth Southgate has refused to be drawn on Jose Mourinho’s criticism of Manchester United defenders Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.

Mourinho seemingly accused the England duo of going against the “culture” of Manchester United after Sunday’s 3-1 win at Swansea, where neither Smalling and Shaw featured due to injuries.

The Manchester United manager added that neither player had “gone to the limit” having hinted in a pre-match interview with the club’s in-house television channel that he had lost trust in the duo.

Neither Smalling nor Shaw were named in Southgate’s 25-strong England squad for home matches against Scotland and Spain and the interim boss, whose future as national team manager will be decided after the two games, said he had been aware of the fitness concerns surrounding both players.

“Chris hasn’t played for quite a while,” Southgate said. “Luke has played but we know has had some ongoing difficulties since coming back from what was a very serious injury.

“Our medical teams, as with all the clubs, liaise closely throughout the week. The decision with Luke to not play yesterday was a bit later but we have been aware that they’ve both been carrying things, for sure.”

England youngsters from Gareth Southgate's U21 side

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Southgate joked: “When people saw me play they felt I was injured most of the time.

“In terms of what Jose said, that’s a club matter and not for me to comment on. In terms of players playing with injury, there’s always a line for a player.

“Players want to play, generally, but on individual situations you need all the information to be able to comment really. It totally depends on what an injury is: what part of the body, what are the ramifications. It is a very individual thing.”

Tottenham duo Kyle Walker and Harry Kane will both face fitness tests after picking up knocks in their side’s 1-1 draw at Tottenham, with Southgate confirming that he had named two additional players to the squad as he expected to lose some players.

Theo Walcott could be one who has to depart. His wife is expecting their second child.

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