Gareth Southgate claims loss of form led to Tammy Abraham's World Cup omission

Gareth Southgate has explained the absence of Tammy Abraham from England's World Cup squad, claiming his lack of form is to blame.

One area of contention was always going to be which strikers the 2018 semi finalists took as back up to Kane, with Callum Wilson and Marcus Rashford eventually given the nod.

That meant Ivan Toney and Tammy Abraham being left behind, despite both being in the most recent squad, and Abraham being included in every squad for this year's Nations League.

Now Southgate has explained the Roma forward's omission from his final 26, saying that the former Chelsea star 'lost form at the wrong time.'

"Tammy's had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time really," the manager said in his press conference for the announcement.

"And it's not a case where we're three or four weeks away from the finals and the first match - we're now 10 days so form could be more important."

However, things haven't gone as well for him at the start of this term, and he has only scored three times in the opening 14 matches for Jose Mourinho's side.

The 30-year-old, who has only played for the Three Lions on four occasions in the past, has absolutely hit form at the right time.

However, fans will point to the contradictions in Southgate's reasoning behind leaving Abraham out, with other players not in form included.

Phillips has only played twice for Manchester City since his summer move from Leeds United, first through selection and latterly due to an injury he's only just returned from.