Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to select Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson in his latest England squad.

Former United skipper Maguire has been shunted even further down Erik ten Hag’s pecking order this season and is yet to play a single minute of competitive action.

Maguire’s chances of resurrecting his club career have been boosted by injuries to Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw, following his decision to turn down a move to West Ham earlier this summer.

His presence in the 26-man squad named ahead of next month’s fixtures, however, owes more to the raft of injuries sustained by a host of English central defenders than to Southgate’s enduring loyalty.

Maguire selection

Explaining his decision to retain Maguire and Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who is also yet to feature for his club this term, Southgate said: “With Harry Maguire, we’ve lost a lot of experienced players in terms of caps at centre-half so we’re giving some less experienced players to come into the squad.

“But unfortunately, it looks like Tyrone [Mings] is out for most of the season, John Stones is out for this camp, and Eric Dier hasn’t appeared in Tottenham’s squad.

“So if I’m looking at all the players we’ve given caps to in the last few years, Conor Coady is also out and playing in the Championship now.

“So there is a space there, and I think for these two games, it’s important we have some experience in that area of the pitch.

Clearly, with Harry and Kalvin Phillips, it’s far from ideal that they’re not playing football, but, similarly, with Kalvin, I think Declan Rice was the only English player to start at the weekend as a single pivot. Kalvin is the next best positioned to do that.”

Henderson choice

Henderson, meanwhile, maintains his place ahead of the upcoming fixtures against Ukraine and Scotland, despite having left Liverpool in the summer for the vast riches on offer in the Saudi Pro League.

Southgate insists he has watched the 33-year-old in action for his new club, Al-Ettifaq, and is confident that, for now at least, he merits a place in the squad.

“We’ve watched every game, and the key as we move forward will be the intensity of the league because of the heat. As well as performance level, we need to clearly monitor the level of the league; we’re assessing it, and it’s changing all the time,” Southgate said.