Manchester City latest news: England U21s boss Aidy Boothroyd reveals reason for axing Celtic’s on-loan star Patrick Roberts again
ENGLAND UNDER-21S boss Aidy Boothroyd insists he has no problem with Celtic’s on-loan Manchester City star Patrick Roberts
For the second time this season the hotshot was left out of the Young Lions squad despite being a regular for his country’s youth sides over the past four years.
Having missed out when the original party was named, eyebrows were raised when he failed to get the nod as a replacement for either Sheyi Ojo or Ruben Loftus-Cheek after they pulled out through injury.
Boothroyd instead handed a first call-up to New York City forward Jack Harrison instead of Roberts, despite the attackers stunning display and goal in the Hoops’ recent Champions League win in Anderlecht.
Rumours were rife that Roberts’ decision to stay and play in the Scottish Cup Final instead of joining the U20s World Cup squad was being held against by Three Lions chiefs.
But Boothroyd dismissed those claims and revealed he had spoken to former Fulham ace and explained to him he did not feel his form warranted an international inclusion.
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The England gaffer said: “I keep in contact with all the boys. We have a long squad of players that could play from the 1997 and ‘96 groups.
“We’ve got some massive talent and Pat will be a big player for us in the future - I’m sure of that.
“I just felt that Jack Harrison had warranted a place in the squad for the simple reason he had more assists and had been scoring more goals and is in better form.
“Pat is doing well at Celtic and played really well in the Champions League but I felt Jack had more game time.”
He added: “I phoned Pat at the last camp and told him why he was not in the squad, and Izzy Brown is the same, another good player playing in the Premier League.
“But he hasn’t got the game time yet to get into the squad, which is a good place for me to be. Because I know in two years time that when we hopefully get to Italy, all being well, we will lose some players through injury or other things, so it’s important to have a good pool of players.”
Boothroyd was speaking after his England side took another step towards the European Championship in 2019 on Friday.
Goals from Josh Onomah, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke fired the Three Lions to a 3-1 victory over Scotland at Middlesbrough.
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