GARETH SOUTHGATE believes Ivan Toney has the “swagger” required to seize tomorrow night’s rare England chance, as the Brentford striker looks to force his way into the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 plans.
Toney, recalled this month for the first time since serving his betting ban, is set to be handed his first England start when Belgium visit Wembley for what is the final friendly before Southgate names his squad for this summer’s tournament.
With Harry Kane injured, Ollie Watkins was given 90 minutes to impress in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by Brazil and the Brentford forward appears to be in direct competition with the Aston Villa striker for one spot on the plane to Germany.
“You can’t hide that fact,” Southgate said of the scale of Toney’s opportunity. “He knows. It would be his first [international] start, so you’ve got to bear that in mind as well. But, with England, that’s the landscape, you don’t get hundreds of opportunities.
This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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