Gareth Southgate says the Championship is preventing Jack Grealish breaking into England’s senior squad.
Aston Villa star Grealish is on Southgate’s radar – but with Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Declan Rice at a higher level in the Bundesliga and Premier League, Grealish is slipping behind.
“Jack worked with us in the Under-21s briefly, said Southgate.
“The difficulty is always that, although we can see the quality, he’s at a different level and it’s hard to directly correlate what that will look like at a level above. With Callum, he’s playing Europa League, he’s playing Premier League, that makes a difference.
“I’m not going to say we won’t pick from the Championship, as that could happen, but it’s far more difficult to assess his level.
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“You see certain parts of the game, but not others. Not the physicality at times, nor the tactical discipline.
“That’s at another level in the Premier League, the speed, the pace. So, Jack’s a player we know all about, he’s a player we track.
“But that last bit of evidence, which could give you confidence to pick him, we haven’t seen.”
Meanwhile, Southgate has revealed the secret behind Raheem Sterling's goal run - after the Manchester City winger netted his 24th goal of the season against the Czech Republic.
Gareth Southgate reveals secret behind Raheem Sterling's form in front of goal
"I thought he was electric all night,” said the England manager.
"He's been like that all week in training. He was involved in four of the goals and it was a great night for him. "He's really matured as a person and as a footballer and he's hungry for those goals now.
"He's determined to get in the right areas of the pitch and the quality of his finishing, he's just hitting things instinctively without thinking too much.
"We've got exciting wide players, we've got the young boys [Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi], Marcus Rashford can play there as well and we've got others in attacking areas too.”
