Lewis next in line to have a shot at ending left-back headache

LEE CARSLEY said yesterday he is having to get used to being stopped at service stations as club fans demand he starts certain players for England. No doubt the names of plenty of leftbacks have been hurled his way.

- Dom Smith

The left side of defence remains a real problem for England, and is just one of the conundrums the interim head coach inherited from Gareth Southgate.

Levi Colwill delivered an assured display there in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, but Manchester City’s Rico Lewis is set to get the nod against Finland tonight. The swapping and changing continues.

For most of Southgate’s tenure, leftback was much weaker than the right flank, where Kyle Walker’s shirt was simultaneously chased by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Reece James and some short-lived others. The left-sided candidates, though, often felt like square pegs in a round hole. And regular injuries to players such as Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell forced Southgate into constant rotation.