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England fans think Gareth Southgate is ‘out of his mind’ for inclusion in 55-man squad
Gareth Southgate is set to name his final 26-man England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar on Thursday afternoon after previously choosing a 55-man provisional shortlist

England fans think Gareth Southgate is ‘out of his mind’ for inclusion in 55-man squad

England fans think Gareth Southgate is "out of his mind" after the shock inclusion of Ashley Young in his 55-man provisional World Cup squad.

The Three Lions boss is set to name his final 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar on Thursday afternoon, after initially shortlisting 55 players for selection. According to the Daily Telegraph's Matt Law, Aston Villa left-back Young was included in that provisional squad despite not playing for England since the semi-finals of the last World Cup.

Despite his surprise inclusion, Young is not expected to be named by Southgate in his final squad for the tournament.

READ MORE: Gareth Southgate's 'already finalised' 26-man England squad for Qatar World Cup

That has not stopped England fans from criticising Southgate on social media for considering the 37-year-old full-back in the first place, with one tweeting: “Nah Southgate must be out of his mind.”

Another confused supporter added: “Incredible. Stupid more like.” Meanwhile, a third fan also wrote: “Sack Southgate now, f***ing hell man.”

One more fan commented: “By incredible I hope you mean incredibly bad from Southgate?” Another also joked: “He really did get the 35 and auto-selected the rest didn’t he!”

How far will England go at the World Cup? Let us know in the comments section below.

Ashley Cole
Ashley Young's last England cap came in the 2018 World Cup semi-final loss to Croatia (Image: Getty Images)

Young has impressed at left-back for Villa so far this season despite their inconsistent form, which saw Steven Gerrard sacked and replaced by Unai Emery last month.

Southgate previously included the former Watford and Manchester United man in his squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where Young won the last five of his 39 senior international caps, during which he scored seven goals for the Three Lions.

He has made 11 appearances for Villa during the current campaign, scoring once and keeping three clean sheets. He played 11 minutes off the bench in Emery's first match in charge on Sunday, a 3-1 win over United which lifted Villa up to 13th in the table.

Ahead of the World Cup, Southgate has been left with a selection headache at full-back due to a number of injuries to key players in the position.

Ashley Young
Ashley Young has been in impressive form for Aston Villa this season (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)

Reece James has been left out of the final squad due to concerns whether he can recover from injury, with Chelsea team-mate Ben Chilwell also ruled out.

Meanwhile, Kyle Walker continues to face a race against time to be fit for the tournament. England begin their campaign against Iran in Al Rayyan on November 21.

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