World Cup 2018: England yet to be told team to face Panama despite leak, says Trent Alexander-Arnold

A photographer captured Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland holding a piece of paper listing the England side in formation, with potential understudies for each position

England’s players have still not been informed of the team to face Panama on Sunday night, despite the apparent leak of Gareth Southgate’s intended starting XI during a training session on Thursday morning. A photographer captured Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland holding a piece of paper listing the England side in formation, with potential understudies for each position listed underneath. In it, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was listed as a starter, with Marcus Rashford replacing Raheem Sterling up front.

But according to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who again looks set to lose out to Kieran Trippier for a starting berth, the squad has not been directly informed of the line-up, and that he would continue to fight for his place. “We haven’t directly been told who is starting and who isn’t,” he said. “All positions are still up for grabs, really.

“Until the manager actually names the team, it doesn’t matter what comes out, or is leaked. The lads don’t really focus on things like that until it’s come out of the manager’s mouth. They’re the only words that really matter to us. Until the manager names the team, everyone is still fighting for their position.”

The inclusion of the 22-year-old Loftus-Cheek for his first major tournament start, despite having started just 27 Premier League games, would be a statement of intent from Southgate, as well as an admission that more passing quality in midfield would be needed in order to break down a Panama side that are expected to defend deep and in numbers.

Trent Alexander-Arnold spoke to the press in Repino (Reuters)

“He showed when he came on the other day that he can change the game,” Alexander-Arnold said. “He is an asset to any team he plays in with his physicality, and the way he can play in the midfield is rare for such a big lad. He’s a top-quality player. If he does get a chance to start, he’ll take it and put a good performance in.”

England go into their second group game in Nizhny Novgorod in the knowledge that a win against the world’s No55-ranked side, would virtually guarantee progress to the second round. But after scraping past Tunisia 2-1 on Monday, Alexander-Arnold said England needed to be more clinical in front of goal if they wanted to make a dent in the tournament.

“With the high level of opposition you come up against, you’re going to get punished,” he said. “You’ve got to be ruthless in front of goal, and when you get the chance, you’ve got to score in these kind of competitions. Going forward, I think we’ll learn from not taking our chances in the first half of hat game, and push forward into the next one.”

Southgate, meanwhile, is still nursing a dislocated shoulder suffered while out running on Wednesday. Alexander-Arnold said the England coach had tried to make light of his injury. “He joked about it,” he said. “He put it in the funniest way possible, and said he hopes no-one else has an afternoon like he did. He tried to put a smile on everyone’s face.”