Why Birmingham-Villa is the game Southgate should be watching this weekend

As Gareth Southgate cements his final selections for the upcoming England squad announcement next week, the Three Lions coach will no doubt have a good idea as to the players he will call up.

However, the game before any such decision is always a perfect opportunity to either solidify your position in the manager’s mindset or offer him something different to think about, so the England coaching staff will be picking the matches they will attend this weekend with that in mind.

There are, after all, a number of positions in the starting XI, let alone squad, that still appear to be up for grabs to those in the best form, with options in creative midfield and central striking roles particularly thin on the ground.

Jesse Lingard is injured as things stand, while both Dele Alli and Callum Wilson could make their comebacks this weekend but haven’t played in over six weeks. It’s fair to say the manager’s of all three will be hoping that is taken into consideration by the England boss.

With that in mind there could be a chance for some new faces to make the cut this time around ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifying double header against Czech Republic and Montenegro, and there’s one match in particular that boasts a few worthy candidates.

Curiously, said match isn’t even in the Premier League, as Birmingham and Aston Villa prepare for round two of the Second City derby in Sunday’s early kick-off in front of the Sky cameras.

It’s a match that one player in particular has controlled in recent times, and that man is Jack Grealish. The boyhood Villa fan only returned from a long term layoff of his own last weekend but his performance against Derby, wearing the captain’s armband for the first time, suggested that there was no rustiness whatsoever on the midfielder’s part.

As well as playing the sublime pass that ultimately set Villa on route to a convincing 4-0 win - this a side that looked lost in his absence - the 23-year-old thundered home an outrageous volley, with both moments highlighting that his is a technical talent that the current England squad is lacking. There’s plenty of pace and trickery at Southgate’s disposal but the one thing his side has missed is creativity from open play and composure in possession in the final third, which Grealish has in abundance.

Moreover, for a side that has relied so heavily on goals from set pieces, the Villa-man’s ability to draw fouls in attacking areas is near enough unrivalled. Some will say that he goes down too easily, but the same opposition fans tend to overlook the fact that he gets kicked relentlessly, which is a tell tale sign of acknowledgement that any player is a big threat.

If Grealish can get through what will be a fierce battle at St. Andrews - and that’s a relatively big if having been fouled 16 times in his last two meetings with the Blues, and only recently returned from injury - the player that Southgate himself urged to represent England should surely be in the running.

However, Grealish certainly isn’t the only man in action in the derby that should harbour genuine hopes of international recognition.

With Wilson’s aforementioned injury problems of late, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford are two of the fit forwards to have made an England appearance available. Another is Tammy Abraham, whom many may have forgotten earned senior caps in friendlies against Germany and Brazil in November 2017, starting against the former.

At that time Abraham was on loan at Swansea and had a modest four goals to his name in 11 Premier League appearances. The youngster may be back in the Championship but his strike rate, at just 21 years of age, is outstanding and his ability to pick up goalscoring positions and use his tall frame both in the air and to hold off challenges is a real asset.

The Chelsea loanee has 21 league goals to his name this season despite missing the first six matches of the campaign having left his decision to leave Stamford Bridge to deadline day, and he’s in the running for the division’s Golden Boot for the second time despite his tender years.

One of the players he is competing with will line up against Abraham on Sunday, with Che Adams having made a sensational start to 2019. The 22-year-old has always been a handful due to his pace and strength but there’s an end product to the youngster’s hard work now that has drawn admiring glances from a number of Premier League suitors, and surely the England manager too.

After a slow start to the season, in front of goal at least, Adams had just three goals to his name in his opening 12 league appearances and it appeared to be more of the same from season’s gone by. There was clearly potential there, but for one reason or another he couldn’t make a telling contribution in the box.

In 23 Championship appearances since the Blues striker has added a further 18 goals, scoring more in the league since the turn of the year (ten) than any other player in England’s professional leagues.

If Southgate is serious about giving the country’s top young talent a chance he needs to be willing to look outside the Premier League to do so, that is for sure, and Second City derby would be a good place to start.