Gareth Southgate has decided whether Conor Coady will lose England place after being dropped by Everton

By Sam Preston

Gareth Southgate will drop Conor Coady from his first England squad of 2023, due to be announced this afternoon.

Coady has gone to Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022, but has not played a single minute of action at either tournament.

He has also just been dropped by Everton manager Sean Dyche, who has brought Michael Keane, who he worked with at Burnley, back in from the wilderness.

The Daily Mail say Coady is set to get more bad news as he drops out of the England setup for the opening fixtures of the Euro 2024 qualification campaign.

Conor Coady set to be dropped from England squad by Gareth Southgate

He has been a near permanent fixture in the setup since his debut in September 2020, picking up ten caps so far.

Southgate clearly places value on his merits to the group when he is not playing, as a talker and organiser who wore the armband for Wolves before leaving on loan.

But the report says Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi is a strong contender for a recall, with AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori also lurking.

Before England faced Denmark in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, England assistant manager Steve Holland told BBC Football Daily (via Express & Star): “My player of the tournament so far is Conor Coady, I would say. He’s not got on the pitch yet, but on the training pitch he gives everything.

“In the dressing room before the game, he speaks like he’s captain despite the fact he’s not been on the pitch yet. That’s incredibly difficult to do.”

That shows the influence Coady has had on the group but right now, it seems Southgate wants to look at other options in games with Italy and Ukraine.