Lee Carsley explains absence of breakout Aston Villa star tipped for England squad | OneFootball

Lee Carsley admitted it was a “challenge” to name his latest England but said Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers is close to a senior call-up after missing out on selection for games against Greece and Finland.

Rogers, 22, has shone for Villa this season and played in the club’s victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The attacking midfielder has also started all six of Villa’s Premier League games this season, scoring once and making two assists.

Rogers had to settle for a place in England’s Under-21s squad last month - a decision his club manager Unai Emery called a “surprise” - and the former Manchester City youth product will have to continue waiting for his chance after Carsley announced his latest squad on Thursday.

The interim manager has continued with an “experimental” selection, despite Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden returning, with Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes and Noni Madueke retaining their places after making their senior debuts last time out.

It means the likes of James Maddison, Jarrod Bowen and Eberechi Eze have missed out on selection, but Rogers had been tipped for his first call-up after his breakout start to the season and Carsley’s willingness to bring fresh faces into the camp.

However there are no uncapped players in the England squad ahead of Nations League fixtures against Greece and Finland - even if Dominic Solanke is included seven years after making his solitary England appearance against Brazil.

“There’s a lot of players that were close to being in this squad with the talent we have available,” Carsley explained when asked about Rogers missing out on selection.

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Rogers impressed again during Aston Villa’s win over Bayern Munich (Getty Images)

“The challenge is, it would have been quite easy to name a 40-man squad and almost justify having them all in. The challenge is making sure we pick a competitive squad and a squad where we can win the two games.

“The players who have been left out, it’s just a case of me having a look at other players. It’s nothing to do with form, it’s a case of using this period to experiment a little bit. The players who have been left out all have a case to be in the squad but I thought we saw the benefit of the last squad being fresh and feeling fresh.

“It’s not that [those] players didn’t bring that but I thought it was important it wasn’t a copy and paste and that they had earned their place in the squad. I’ve spoken to all the players that aren’t involved and have had good conversations with them. I’ve made it clear to all of them that it’s a short-term decision from myself.”