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England's lockdown winners and losers: Foden and Greenwood, Maguire and Stones

The likes of Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood enjoyed impressive ends to the Premier League season.

England manager Gareth Southgate will announce his first squad since November on Tuesday afternoon.

The coronavirus pandemic meant international football was postponed, including the European Championships which has now moved to next summer.

But the Three Lions are finally back in action with a Nations League double-header away to Iceland and Denmark and, here, the PA news agency looks at the players who have enhanced their credentials since the last outing in Kosovo nine months ago and those whose stock has fallen.

Winners

Phil Foden

Phil Foden enjoyed a fine end to the season at Manchester City.
Phil Foden enjoyed a fine end to the season at Manchester City (Adam Davy/NMC Pool)

There has been a long-standing belief it was only a matter of time before the Manchester City midfielder made the step up to senior international football.

Arguably the only thing holding 20-year-old Foden back before lockdown was a lack of game time, but he flourished in the closing weeks of the season, hitting five goals after the restart and playing more minutes as he looked to establish himself both at the Etihad Stadium and in the mind of Southgate.

Mason Greenwood

Mason Greenwood emerged as an integral part of the Manchester United team that would finish third in the Premier League.
Mason Greenwood emerged as an integral part of the Manchester United team that would finish third in the Premier League (Peter Powell/NMC Pool)

Just across Manchester, another youngster made waves last season as Greenwood – two years Foden's junior – showed he is already a clinical finisher at the top level.

The Manchester United forward, along with Anthony Martial and England's own Marcus Rashford, formed a front-three that – with Bruno Fernandes behind them – was largely responsible for taking the Red Devils up to third in the table.

Danny Ings

Southampton striker Danny Ings was full of goals last season.
Southampton striker Danny Ings was full of goals last season (Neil Hall/NMC Pool)

The only man so far on this list with prior England experience – although not much of it, having not played for his country since his one and only cap to date against Lithuania in 2015.

After a difficult spell with injuries at Liverpool, Ings has flourished since moving to Southampton and hit 22 league goals last season to finish just one shy of golden boot winner and former England international Jamie Vardy.

Other winners: Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Dean Henderson.

Losers

Harry Maguire

Harry Maguire was arrested in Greece while on holiday last week
Harry Maguire was arrested in Greece while on holiday last week (Michael Varaklas/AP)

The Manchester United captain has been one of the first names on Southgate's team-sheet ever since impressing throughout the 2018 World Cup.

But his recent arrest while on holiday in Greece has cast doubt over his immediate involvement with the England set-up, especially given how much credence Southgate puts on his players to be role models.

John Stones

John Stones found himself on the bench on a regular basis towards the end of the campaign at Manchester City.
John Stones found himself on the bench on a regular basis towards the end of the campaign at Manchester City (Mike Egerton/PA)

Southgate has kept faith in Stones for some time but it will become more and more difficult to pick the Manchester City man as he seemingly slides further out of favour at his club.

Stones made just two starts following the resumption of the season, with a mixture of injury and competition seeing him warming the bench more often than not, although his international career may be saved by the lack of quality alternatives in his central defensive role.

Callum Wilson

Callum Wilson struggled for form as Bournemouth were relegated from the Premier League.
Callum Wilson struggled for form as Bournemouth were relegated from the Premier League (Mark Kerton/PA)

The Bournemouth man has been a squad favourite of Southgate since he handed the striker his debut in 2018.

Wilson has only picked up four caps as he plays the understudy role to captain Harry Kane, but that position could now come under threat by the likes of Ings, especially since Wilson has failed to find the back of the net for the Cherries since March as they suffered Premier League relegation.

Other losers: Callum Hudson-Odoi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Pickford.

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