England Live: Lee Carsley announced as interim head coach for the first time ahead of Nations League fixtures

Maddison’s poor performance in the second half of the season led to him being left out of the England squad ahead of the European Championships. He recently told Sky Sports that he was “struggling to find the consistency I had in the second half of last season after injury” – it might be a little early to say he has returned to form, but there is room for a creator like Maddison in midfield, especially if Bellingham is injured.

He will certainly be hoping for the chance to play against Ireland next month, but Grealish has played just 20 minutes for City this season, which does not appear to be enough for him to be recalled after being dropped from Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad.

But England had problems down the left during the Euros, so perhaps Carsley will look to Grealish to provide natural width?

This is probably the biggest missing piece from England’s Euro 2024 squad, but it’s unsurprising given his performances for Manchester United last season. Rashford hasn’t had time to prove he’s turned things around at club level, and he doesn’t seem to be performing as well this season after taking a summer break.

It looks unlikely that the 26-year-old will return.

Sterling is England’s top scorer under Gareth Southgate after Harry Kane, but has not played for the Three Lions since the 2022 World Cup.

Given that he has been snubbed by Chelsea and his future is uncertain ahead of the transfer deadline, the chances of Sterling returning to Carsley’s side are slim.

It’s been 45 days since England lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final and Lee Carsley is expected to field a similar squad to the one that reached the final in Germany under Gareth Southgate.

Captain Harry Kane will undoubtedly be included, along with the England mainstays for Euro 2024: Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Declan Rice, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka. Jude Bellingham is a question of fitness after an injury at Real Madrid.

But we can see a lot of new faces from there…

England interim manager Lee Carsley is reshuffling his backroom staff for his first game in charge of the national team and has sacked two of Gareth Southgate’s long-time analysts.

Mike Baker and Stephen O’Brien were lead performance analysts under former England manager Gareth Southgate but will not have any role at the next senior men’s camp as Carsley has promoted Under-21 analyst James Ryder to work with him.

Baker and O’Brien, both full-time employees of the Football Association, will not lose their jobs in the analyst department, but after eight years under Southgate they are now excluded from the England manager’s close circle.

Lee Carsley has temporarily replaced Gareth Southgate as the next England manager.

As speculation swirled about Southgate’s resignation following the shocking defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, the FA assessed a number of options, initially rushing to book an appointment as quickly as possible but then deciding to take its time to ensure the right decision was made.

It means that, just weeks after the final defeat in Germany, England Under-21 coach Carsley will be put in charge of the Three Lions’ upcoming Nations League campaign and could be a surprise candidate to take on the role permanently.

Lee Carsley will select his first England squad as interim manager on Thursday and there is much to consider before then.

The Euro 2024 runners-up entered a new era when Gareth Southgate announced the end of his eight-year reign following a disastrous defeat to Spain in the final in July.

The Football Association continues to recruit his permanent successor, with England Under-21 coach Carsley being promoted to manage the senior team on a temporary basis as a result.

The 50-year-old manager will speak to the media on Thursday for the first time since taking over as manager to unveil his squad for the Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland in September.

Carsley has been confirmed as England’s captain for all six autumn international matches, having announced his first choice just 46 days after the Euro 2024 final and just 20 days into his role.