In the wake of the surprising/shocking departure of England manager Sam Allardyce after just 67 days in charge and just one match, the FA moved quickly to put a familiar face in charge of the 3 Lions for the next 4 World Cup qualifiers, naming U21 boss Gareth Southgate as interim boss. One of the first moves Southgate made was to add United wideman Jesse Lingard to the senior squad for Saturday’s home game against Malta and the away game vs Slovenia on Tuesday. This will surely be a confidence boost for the young man and even though the game against Malta is seen as a formality by most, the new boss has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will indeed start and captain the side.

The intriguing part of the selection for the game is if Southgate has the courage (read balls) to name Marcus Rashford as a starter for the game. The young attacker has certainly done enough to warrant his selection as he has shown so far this season that he is more in form than the other choices of Vardy, Sturridge et al. So will Gareth do the right thing and give Marcus Rashford the start he so clearly deserves? It will be interesting to see but the starlet will surely play some part in the game regardless.

For an insight into what goes on at an England training session check out the video below to see Rashford, Rooney, Lingard and Smalling in action ahead of Saturday’s game against minnows Malta.