Southgate happy to have selection headache for England ahead of Euro 2024

Gareth Southgate admitted he may have future selection headaches after England’s 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia-Herzegovina at St. James’ Park on Monday.

Cole Palmer netted on his first England start from the penalty spot before Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane made sure of the victory late on.

With key players out injured, Southgate used the opportunity to give some of the less experienced squad members some valuable minutes ahead of Euro 2024.

The England manager still has to narrow his 33-man preliminary squad down to 26, with the announcement due later this week.

Southgate confessed the first-half performance was not what he wanted, but overall, he was pleased with how his side responded after half-time.

“We had a lot of fresh players to bring in,” Southgate told Channel 4. “Once you break that resistance then it starts to come. A lot of players didn’t have many caps that started so it was going to be a sticky start.

In action during their first #ThreeLions starts pic.twitter.com/ItcB4eg9jm

— England (@England) June 3, 2024

“I thought [Palmer and Eberechi Eze] both played with the freedom. Ebere has got lovely movement to go past players, he’s got power. A couple of times, Cole was being too precise and if he got his shots away earlier maybe he could’ve got a couple.

“The great thing is we’ve got through the last few days with no new problems. That’s really important. We needed to get through these first matches to get a clearer picture and the guys rehabbing have done well.

“A little bit [of a selection headache] but that’s a good thing. I would rather have good performances than poor performances.

“Winning and clean sheets are good habits to have.”

England’s final friendly before their Euro 2024 campaign begins is against Iceland on June 7, with Southgate due to announce his 26-man squad following that game.