Gareth Southgate has eight months to mull over his European Championship selection after England sealed their place at next summer’s finals with two games to spare. Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Italy underlined their place among the favourites in Germany and the PA news agency has analysed how Southgate likely sees his options for the squad right now. Goalkeepers On the plane: Jordan Pickford (Everton) and Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal) In the departure lounge: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace) Hoping for a late ticket: Nick Pope (Newcastle) Pickford established himself as England’s number one ahead of the 2018 World Cup and is all but certain to go into his fourth major tournament as the man between the sticks. Ramsdale is his closest contender but David Raya’s arrival at Arsenal is impacting his playing time and could well damage his international ambitions. Johnstone has supplanted Pope as third choice for the time being. Defenders On the plane: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) and Kyle Walker (Manchester City) In the departure lounge: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Reece James (Chelsea) and Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan) Hoping for a late ticket: Conor Coady (Leicester), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) and Ben White (Arsenal) Trippier, Stones, Walker and Maguire have been to every previous major tournament under Southgate and will do so again if fit and playing – not something that is a given with the latter. James undoubtedly has the quality to be on the plane but needs to prove his fitness. The Chelsea skipper missed the World Cup through injury and has struggled for an issue-free run since – not ideal given the competition at right-back. Injured team-mate Chilwell is in a similar position but there is a dearth of options at left-back beyond him and Shaw. Colwill can fill in there as he did on his England debut against Australia, which will boost the central defender’s hopes. Guehi has established himself as third-choice centre-back. Dunk and Tomori furthered their case for inclusion in recent camps in the absence of injured Mings, whose Aston Villa team-mate Konsa cannot be far from a call-up. Coady and White have not been selected since Qatar, while fellow World Cup squad selection Dier’s lack of club action has seen him fall out of consideration. Midfielders On the plane: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) and Declan Rice (Arsenal) In the departure lounge: Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) and Mason Mount (Manchester United) Hoping for a late ticket: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) and James Ward-Prowse (West Ham) Bellingham would be in any squad in the world, as would Rice. There are questions over Phillips and Henderson given their club situations, but Southgate has so far seen enough to stick with two players he trusts implicitly. The Football Association now lists Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder, with his versatility and qualities surely enough to see him involved in a midfield that Gallagher is now a regular part of. Mount’s difficult end to last season and injury-impacted start to life at Old Trafford has seen him miss out on recent squads, but Southgate is a long-term admirer of the Euro 2020 final starter. In-form Ward-Prowse has not been called up despite his fine start to life at West Ham. Forwards On the plane: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) and Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) In the departure lounge: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), James Maddison (Tottenham), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) and Callum Wilson (Newcastle) Hoping for a late ticket: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) and Ivan Toney (Brentford) England are blessed with an abundance of attacking options. Skipper Kane is a certainty, as is fleet-footed Saka. Foden, Grealish and Rashford are established performers under Southgate, while Maddison is now a regular squad member. There are decisions to make beyond them. Sterling has won 82 caps for his country but has not featured since December’s World Cup quarter-final loss to France. Bowen is another fighting for a sport after his October recall, while Eze will hope to earning back the spot he got before injury. Under-21 Euros winner Gibbs-White is another knocking on the door. As for Kane’s back-up, Watkins scored on his return to the set-up and Nketiah made his debut this month. But Wilson will be hoping to head into another tournament in that role. Toney is the most interesting alternative but his betting ban does not end until January. Read More No easing off now Euros qualification assured, Gareth Southgate warns England Revenge no motivation for England’s semi-final with South Africa – Ollie Chessum Euro 2024 qualifying – who has reached Germany and who still has work to do? Paula Dunn named interim head coach of UK Athletics after Stephen Maguire exit Goalkeeper Liam Kelly says Scotland debut was “the best moment” of his life South Africa’s Handre Pollard expecting to face ‘ruthless’ England in semi-final

New diversity data and hiring statistics further highlight the “grass ceiling” facing black footballers, the co-founder of the Black Footballers Partnership has said. BFP data published earlier this year found black players make up 43 per cent of those active in the Premier League. However, statistics released by the Football Association on Wednesday show that only 7.4 per cent of people in senior leadership roles at the 53 clubs signed up to its Football Leadership Diversity Code are black, Asian or mixed heritage. The figure was only slightly higher in team operations (8.9 per cent) and only 10.5 per cent among senior coaches. The clubs also failed to hit any of the code’s eight diversity hiring targets in the 2022-23 season, with the FA accepting the hiring rates are too low to drive the necessary rapid change in representation. The FA is consulting on a new rule to force clubs to report biannually on their workforce, and BFP co-founder Delroy Corinaldi feels if the game cannot get this right, there could be a future role for the independent regulator in ensuring compliance. “Black players have been told time and again by the FA that you need to give the code time to work,” Corinaldi told the PA news agency. “How much time do they want? If the FA can’t deliver, it needs to hold its hand up. “Black players are nearly 50 per cent of your (playing) workforce. The signal you’re sending to those people is that once you get to your 30s, it’s punditry or leave the game, because there is a real ‘grass ceiling’ the FA is doing little to remove. “How disheartening and soul-destroying is that? “This government has said they’re not having diversity as part of its football governance regime. But maybe we need to look at that again. An industry where nearly half the key staff are blocked from promotion is not a functioning one. “We need to get all the authorities in and we need to get serious about this problem, otherwise it will continue for generation after generation.” FA chief executive Mark Bullingham admitted in the foreword to this year’s FLDC report that the game was making “slower progress” towards diversifying at the executive, operations and coaching level than had been hoped. He believes mandating clubs to report workforce data represents a “critical change for football which futureproofs our approach for years to come”. “There is no silver bullet to solving these challenges and we know that this alone will not drive all of the change we want to see. “But publishing who we are, measuring that regularly and setting targets that stretch clubs to do better is a big step forward. It will be for clubs to set their own targets based on local factors, but it will help provide a clear statement that football is tackling diversity head-on.” Read More Wales boss Rob Page hails ‘great opportunity’ after Euro 2024 play-off draw PCA calls for action over ‘unsustainable’ men’s domestic cricket schedule Who are the contenders to replace Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland boss? On This Day in 2008 – Ricky Hatton dominates Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas New sponsor to help 460 clubs in Women’s FA Cup market themselves with AI app Stephen Kenny believes he leaves behind a ‘great job’ for Ireland successor

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