I have just been speaking to former England goalkeeper David James about Gareth Southgate’s provisional Euros squad at a ‘Uefa legends’ match in Dublin.

“Am I surprised? Yes and no,” he told me. “I was hoping Sancho’s football resurrection might have earned him an opportunity to get into the squad which it hasn’t. But at the same time Gareth won’t have picked a squad just based on individual talent but the cohesiveness of the group. I trust he’s got the right squad to do the best for England at the Euros.

“It’s never going to be my squad so there will always be players I might have had like Sancho – one of two English players in the Champions League final. You think it might earn you an opportunity. They’ll pick a squad best placed to try to win a tournament not just the best players playing their best football.

“Crystal Palace will be a surprise package next season. From the Liverpool game at Anfield, which ruined their title chances, going forward, we’ve seen consistency in their performances from all their players.

“Mateta has been scoring the goals but the team are playing very well. Whether they [Palace players] end up going to the finals we’ll see but Gareth has recognised they’re a team with good English players and it’s encouraging.”