England boss Gareth Southgate admits UK and Russian relations are a 'really serious matter' ahead of World Cup

While there have been calls for the England team to pull out of the World Cup, the Football Association is still planning to send them to the tournament

Southgate has concerns ahead of this summer's tournament (Getty)

England manager Gareth Southgate admitted that relations between the UK and Russia are a “really serious matter” ahead of this summer’s World Cup, but insisted that he could only focus on preparing his team for the June tournament.

Southgate unveiled his squad for the next two friendlies against Netherlands and Italy at a St George’s Park press conference today, but fielded questions about the political and security situations in the light of this month’s assassination attempt on a former Russian spy in Salisbury.

While there have been calls for the England team to pull out of the World Cup, the Football Association is still planning to send them to the tournament, although is keeping arrangements under constant review.

“Our focus as the FA is on preparation for the tournament on the pitch and off the pitch,” said FA communications director Robert Sullivan today. “A key fundamental in that is safety and security of our participants, players, our employees and of course our supporters and that's where our primary focus will be. It is not for us to make those broader political judgements.”

Southgate was clear when asked that his focus as England manager was on preparing the team for the tournament, as security matters would be controlled by the FA. “Clearly it's a really serious matter and it's developing very quickly,” Southgate said.

“But my job as the England football manager is to concentrate on the football and prepare the team. As far as all my briefings and information is, we're preparing to go to the World Cup, there's no doubt in our mind that's what we should be doing.”

The FA position is that they can only make security arrangements, rather than political decisions about participation, Southgate insisted that his own role could only cover football matters rather than the broader context of the tournament and the situation.

“We have important positions throughout our organisation where their priority is to deal with those issues,” he said. “I've got to make sure I don't get distracted by things that are outside of my control, whether that’s political or football."

Southgate is keen to concentrate on football (Getty)

But Southgate conceded that it was natural that players or staff could be distracted by the broader situation, and hoped that the FA had the support in place to help.

“We're all human beings and we're all effected by events around us and things that might distract us from our job,” he said. “It's unrealistic to think any other of anybody in any profession. So, that's why it's important as a manager that I’ve got the right support around the players, around the support team as well because they're in the same position.”