Bowen ruled out of final England qualifier

Published on: 19 November 2023

Jarrod Bowen was an unused substitute in England's win over Malta on Friday

England forward Jarrod Bowen will miss the final Euro 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia.

The West Ham player has not travelled because of a minor injury.

Boss Gareth Southgate said: "We didn't really have enough time to assess it fully and make an accurate decision, so we felt better to leave him in England. We wouldn't take a risk."

Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier, who has a personal issue, also misses Monday's game in Skopje.

England have already sealed their place in the finals as Group C winners.

However, Southgate's side failed to impress in Friday's 2-0 home win over Malta and are looking for an improvement.

"Performance is the priority," Southgate said. "We've set a standard. We didn't reach that standard on Friday.

"We have to get back to what we're good at. There's always a chance within that to have a look at a couple of things that we'd like to see as well."

North Macedonia lost 7-0 when these teams met in a qualifier at Old Trafford in June. The Tose Proeski Arena is sold out for the rematch, despite the fact the hosts cannot qualify.

"We play a team who, although they can't qualify, have tremendous pride and they'll be wounded by what happened in Manchester," said Southgate.

"We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium."

England midfielder Declan Rice told BBC Radio 5 Live there is no good reason for any negativity to be directed the team's way.

Rice said: "I think the level of the team now is ridiculously high. People can say whatever they want.

"Italy [in] both games [we] dominated them. We had Ukraine away, we drew.

"We are in a good space mentally, physically, the way the manager has got us as a group together. You know we really do believe we can achieve special things. I think we are in a good spot as a team, I don't think there is any need now to be negative."

Source: bbc.com

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