Thomas Tuchel has omitted Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly from the England squad for tonight’s match against Serbia. Despite playing the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Andorra at Villa Park, the 18-year-old full-back has been left out of the 23-man squad travelling to Belgrade.
Lewis-Skelly has made two substitute appearances for Arsenal this season in victories over Manchester United and Leeds United, and has previously started four out of five games under Tuchel’s management of the Three Lions. Reece James, who played as a right-back on Saturday, can switch to the left, while Tuchel could also utilise Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa or Tottenham’s Djed Spence, who is in the squad for the first time, for the position.
England have won all four of their World Cup qualification matches so far without conceding a goal, but have attracted criticism for their performances from fans.
Following the weekend win over Andorra, who England narrowly beat 1-0 in Barcelona in June, Tuchel defended his team’s attacking display, instead focusing on the lacklustre crowd.
“It’s a very different crowd to the Premier League and we know it,” he said. “I think the energy was right, the quality was there and we should’ve scored more. After the first goal, we had ten or 15 minutes with too many ball losses.
“We lost a bit of focus and concentration but second half, found it again and created a lot of chances and like I said, should’ve scored more.
“I think we missed a little bit the little moments to accelerate the game. We should’ve scored maybe the second one earlier because the second goal gave us a lot of freedom and players moved more freely and a bit more confident.”
Speaking about the upcoming match in Serbia, he added: “The group played with the exact same attitude that they trained and I’m glad for the players. We will prove the point now in Belgrade.
“We’re going to learn a lot from next Tuesday night. We’re ready for it, we know what’s coming. It’s a difficult away game but it’s a crucial game for us because we can make a huge step into the qualification and we’re well aware of it.
“Same system, totally different quality, totally different style of play, a much more physical away game, so we will be prepared. We have Sunday and Monday to prepare, to travel and we will be ready.”