England boss Southgate issues Cole Palmer update as Chelsea playmaker misses England’s defeat to Brazil

England boss Southgate issues Cole Palmer update as Chelsea playmaker misses England’s defeat to Brazil

Gareth Southgate insists Cole Palmer remains in contention for England’s friendly against Belgium on Tuesday evening.

The Chelsea midfielder has trained with the squad this week but missed England’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil at Wembley on Saturday night and was not included in the matchday squad.

However, Palmer has not been ruled out of the squad entirely and could earn his third senior cap when Belgium visit Wembley on Tuesday.

Jordan Henderson could also feature after he missed the defeat to Brazil.

When asked about the absences of Palmer and Henderson after England’s defeat to Brazil, Southgate said: ‘The two boys trained today, so they’ve come through that okay.

‘So they should join the group that will train tomorrow [Sunday], so we’ll go from there with that.

‘Tuesday, Belgium have played a different eleven, or close to, so they’re going to be a bit fresher.

‘But similar to tonight, we’re talking about a high-level game, brilliant experience for the players, a chance to see new players again, build towards the summer.

‘I’m not disappointed with the level of performance [against Brazil]. I know in the end when you lose a game there will always be a negative reaction towards losing, but I thought the 15 minutes to go, given all the changes we’d made, I thought the crowd were really with the team, they could see a lot of young players going in and doing well, a lot of inexperienced players going in and doing well, so I’m not down on the performance of the team at all.’