The Manchester United duo of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have been left out of the latest England squad released by manager Gareth Southgate earlier on Thursday. Both attackers were obvious absentees from the 25-man England squad ahead of the international friendly games with Switzerland and Ivory Coast later this month.

Rashford and Sancho have both struggled for form at various times at Manchester United this season. While speaking at his recent press conference to talk about his latest squad, England manager Southgate told reporters that the attackers in the latest squad have all had a better season than the aforementioned Manchester United players when he was quizzed about their omission. Southgate was the England manager when they reached the Euro 2020 final before they were beaten by Italy on penalties. Sancho and Rashford were part of his squad to the Euro 2020 tournament. They both failed to convert their spot kicks during the dreaded penalty shootout as Italy beat England to win the Euro 2020 tournament.

Ex-Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City winger Sancho is in his first season at ManchesterUnited following his €85m transfer to the club last summer. He didn’t have the best of starts to his Manchester United career, but he has picked up in recent weeks with an attacking return of five goal contributions (two goals and three assists) in his last six Premier League games. For Rashford, the Manchester United Academy graduate missed the start of the season as he had to undergo surgery to solve a longstanding shoulder problem. He returned to action for the first time this season as a second half substitute during the 4-2 Premier League defeat at Leicester City in October.

Rashford and Sancho featured for Manchester United earlier in the week as they crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.