'People don't want to hear it' - England boss Gareth Southgate admits Declan Rice role is a problem area ahead of Euro 2024

Southgate, on Tuesday, named a 33-man preliminary Three Lions squad for the upcoming Euro 2024. While stars like Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Rice were named in the list, some notable names were missing from the squad including players like Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling.

England boast of having one of the strongest attacks in Europe at the moment due to the presence of in-form players like Saka, Foden, Harry Kane and Bellingham, however, the manager expressed his concern over the lack of options at the centre of the park. Southgate will have the headache of picking the perfect central midfielder to pair with Rice or replace him in case the Arsenal star misses a game.

Speaking to reporters, the England boss said, "Yes, no question. I’ve talked a lot about numbers and players and people don’t want to hear it because we’ve got so much talent in certain areas of the pitch. But the impact of those numbers is clear in certain positions. We’ll just have to do that differently. We don’t have another Rice-type profile of player. In the last few months, I’ve been thinking: ‘Declan with who?’ And: ‘Who if without Declan?’ When everyone is saying we have a procession to Berlin, they’re the things I have to worry about."

Southgate's side are set to face Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland in friendly matches on June 3 and June 7, respectively before opening their quest for European Championship glory against Serbia on June 16.