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Gareth Southgate believes Brentford star Ivan Toney possesses the swagger of a top striker ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Belgium.
The 28-year-old, who recently returned from an eight-month ban for breaking Football Association gambling rules, looks likely to feature in England’s final international fixture before Southgate picks his squad for EURO 2024.
Nonetheless, Southgate insists Toney has the talent to excel on the international stage.
“It would be his first start, so you’ve got to bear that in mind as well,” said Southgate.
“With England, that’s the landscape – you don’t get hundreds of opportunities.
“I think every player recognises that’s the world we live in.
“But he’s a confident guy. He comes in on the back of a good run of form with his club. He’s going to be on the field on Tuesday – no question.
“That swagger and self-belief is crucial – all of the top forward players have it.”
Harry Kane missed the defeat against Brazil and will not feature in Tuesday’s friendly against Belgium due to an ankle injury.
Ollie Watkins led the line on Saturday, with Marcus Rashford replacing him in the 75th minute.
Toney’s only England appearance came in the closing stages of a 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Wembley in March, and now he will have to seize his opportunity with Southgate set to select his squad in May.
The England manager believes he is still learning how to get the best out of Toney.
“I think sometimes the quality of his football can be underestimated – his passing, his link play,” he added.
“We’re still getting to know all of those strengths because until you work with a player more regularly you don’t know them inside out.
“You look at him being a big guy, but he’s not just a target man. His quality in link play is very good as well.”
Southgate is also facing an injury crisis at left-back, with Manchester United defender Luke Shaw engaged in a race against time to return to Premier League action before the end of the season.
“He’s going to be right on the edge of the season,” he added. “We know now that for him to play seven matches in a Euros is highly unlikely.
“I don’t want to kill Ben Chilwell, but Luke is one of the best left-backs in world football, frankly.”
‘Incredible number unavailable to us’
James Trafford and Rico Lewis were called up to plug the gaps, and speaking at a press conference before the Belgium match on Tuesday, Southgate contended that it was an unprecedented situation for him
He said: “It’s an incredible number unavailable to us. I haven’t experienced that before. But it means there’s opportunities for other people. We saw against Brazil players step up and take those opportunities which is great for us as well.”
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