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• Lee Carsley insists Harry Maguire's England omission not due to form

  Lee Carsley insists Harry Maguire's omission from his latest England squad is not due to form and he still has an important role to play for his country.

  Manchester United centre-back Maguire missed Euro 2024 for beaten finalists England due to injury but was involved for interim boss Carlsey's first squad since Gareth Southgate departed for the Nations League victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland last month.

  However, there was no place for the 31-year-old ahead of this month's Nations League double-header against Greece and the return clash with the Finnish.

  Maguire was the fifth-most utilised player for England under Southgate, with only Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Jordan Pickford and John Stones appearing more, and Carsley explained that the decision was just to take a look at other options.

  "It was a chance of having a look at other players. It's nothing to do with form. It's looking at the next two camps to look at other players," Carsley said.

  "The players left out all have a case but we saw the benefit in the last camp of the squad being fresh, feeling fresh and a lot of energy in it.

  "It's not just a copy and a paste, I want them to feel like they all have earned their place in the squad. People want to know where they stand long-term, I've told all the players this is a short-term situation.

  "Harry is a player I've worked with in the past. He was very positive in the conversation we have.

  "It was a case of talking to him about what my decision was, we have some really good centre-backs who we are keen to see play. Harry still has a really important part to play, not just in this squad but also in the campaign."

• Gillespie defends under-fire Pakistan captain Masood ahead of England Test series

  Jason Gillespie insists Shan Masood has a "clear plan" as Pakistan's Test captain.

  Pakistan's red-ball skipper has faced scrutiny after overseeing five straight defeats as captain, starting by being whitewashed 3-0 by Australia last December.

  That was followed by a shock 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh last month, which marked Gillespie's first as Pakistan Test coach.

  Next up is a three-match series with England, where Joe Root (12,402) is 71 away from surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as the all-time leading run scorer for England in men’s Tests, beginning in Multan on Monday.

  Speaking on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast, Gillespie said of Masood: "Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that," the 49-year-old said.

  "There are things people don't see and I've been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he's gone about doing his job."

  Gillespie added that he believes part of the issue is improving the fitness of the team.

  He added: "We can't afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game.

  "What I've learned from the Bangladesh series is that we've got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We've got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them.

  "There's also been plenty of talks around fitness and we're making sure that it's a key component for us going forward."

• Solanke earns England recall, Foden, Palmer and Bellingham return

  Lee Carsley has recalled Dominic Solanke to the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.

  Solanke's only previous call-up came when he was at Liverpool back in 2017, earning his sole cap as a substitute against Brazil.

  Despite missing the start of the season through injury, he has made a fine start to life at Tottenham and has scored in each of his last three matches in all competitions.

  "Dom's a player I'm fully aware of having worked with him in the past," said Carsley.

  "He was really close to being in the last squad but got injured just before selection. He did so well at Bournemouth, and now he's taken that form into Spurs. He's extremely talented, and it's good that we've got him."

  Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham are also back in the squad after missing the September fixtures through illness and injury respectively.

  Should Bellingham feature for the Three Lions this international break, he would move outright second for most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).

  Kyle Walker is also back in the fold having been left out of the last squad due to a lack of playing time, and could move into the top five for most England appearances made at Wembley Stadium (37) if he plays against Greece.

  Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all drop out.

  England squad in full:

  Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).