Career revival: Jesse Lingard has been in excellent form for West Ham
(Picture: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Gareth Southgate says that Jesse Lingard is “fortunate” to have earned an England recall despite turning his career around at West Ham.
Lingard is back in the England fold for the first time since June 2019 after being named in Southgate’s squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Lingard, Luke Shaw and John Stones have all been recalled and explaining the decision to bring back the trio, Southgate said: “There has never been any question in our mind about the quality of all three players. All have had difficult times really, mainly due to injury.
“Jesse, of the three, you would have to say is a little more fortunate to be in. Luke and John have performed over a period of time.
“We have got injuries in attacking areas that have opened up an opportunity for Jesse but I have to say his performances for West Ham have been excellent, his four goals in six games.
“We know he can perform at the level, we know he has been a good member of our squad, both in terms of his general link-up play, but he has scored goals for England as well.
“So there is no doubting his quality. Ideally, you would be saying you need to be doing it for a little bit longer but that has not been the option this time around.
“We have lost the likes of Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and one or two others, Harvey Barnes, James Maddison. So there is a space there. We trust Jesse and we think he can play a big part in these three games.”
