‘Excited by some’ – Gareth Southgate makes Jacob Ramsey stance clear after big England reveal

Gareth Southgate has explained why some of England’s high-profile young players have failed to make the step up to his senior side ahead of next month’s European qualifiers against Malta (June 16) and North Macedonia (June 19).

Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey has had an outstanding few months having bagged his sixth goal of the season at Anfield last week, while others – such as Brighton’s Levi Colwill and Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White – have also missed out. Ramsey, Colwill and Gibbs-White have instead been called up for Lee Carsley’s under-21s squad, which also includes Villa hot-shot Cameron Archer.

The under-21s will get together at St George’s Park for a three-day training camp at the beginning of June ahead of next month’s European Championships in Georgia. Carsley will finalise his squad on June 14 ready for the Young Lions’ group games against Czech Republic (June 22), Israel (June 25) and Germany (June 28).

READ MORE: Villa make ‘additional transport’ announcement ahead of final day

READ MORE: Jed Steer sends classy Villa message as decade-long spell ends

Senior boss Southgate, meanwhile, was asked about not involving some of the Premier League’s in-form young players knowing there’s a big tournament on the horizon.

He said: “Well I don’t think they’re quite ready to be ahead of the players we’ve picked, but there’s a good chance that if we have problems, they’d be the next ones in. Myself and Steve Holland will go to that tournament to watch them, that’s important. We’ve got some good players in there who we like. I think it’s important, with the decisions we’ve made, that they recognise there’s a pathway for young players. We’ve always done that. We’re excited by some of those players as well.”

Elsewhere, Ramsey’s teammate Tyrone Mings returns to the senior side after a fine six months. He will be alongside fellow centre-backs Lewis Dunk, Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi and John Stones. Villa striker Ollie Watkins – scorer of 11 goals in his last 18 games – misses out.