Carsley yet to speak to incoming England coach Tuchel in person

England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he has not spoken to permanent head coach-to-be Thomas Tuchel in person since it was announced he would take over last month,

Carsley is scheduled to take England’s Nations League games against Greece and Republic of Ireland before he returns to the Under-21s and Tuchel takes the job in January.

He said they had only exchanged text messages up to now, but was unconcerned that they were yet to see each other in the flesh.

“I think it’s quite clear in terms of the starting date,” Carsley told a press conference

“It was more of a text message to him, which was ‘congratulations’ and he said ‘good luck for the window and look forward to meeting up’.

“He is fully respectful that I am in charge at the moment, that is the priority. I do not feel hard done by or shunned.

“If anything I look forward to hopefully create a situation where we can hand over a healthy squad of players to the new coach and his squad.”

Your #ThreeLions for their final camp of 2024!

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Carsley had raised eyebrows in the previous international break by struggling to give a straight answer when asked if he wanted the job permanently.

Tuchel had signed the contract two days before England were beaten by Greece at Wembley, but Carsley said that he was unaware of that at the time.

“My focus was massively on the games, on the camp. In terms of my position, I’m really comfortable with the way that it was handled,” he said

“I didn’t feel undermined or anything like that. If anything I felt really well supported.

“So in terms of the Greece performance there is definitely not an excuse or that I knew something or I didn’t. In respect to the performance it was down to me.”