Everton defender Conor Coady is ‘disappointed’ Aston Villa star Tyrone Mings is not also in England’s World Cup squad. Gareth Southgate has opted to only take the former to Qatar.
The Three Lions coach announced his 26-man squad for the quadrennial FIFA tournament on Thursday. Coady is one of nine defenders with a seat on their plane to the Middle East. Manchester United’s Harry Maguire and Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier also made the cut.
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Mings has been a regular on the international stage since making his England debut under Southgate in October 2019. The Bath-born enforcer has earned 17 caps across a potential 34 games in all competitions. But he has now not made the last three camps since March.
Southgate had named Mings in each England squad between his first call-up in September 2019 until this March. He also featured in three fixtures – including starting their first two ties – at Euro 2020. But the centre-half did not feature once England advanced out of Group D.
Even scoring his first two international goals in what are his most recent two caps was not enough for Mings to remain a part of Southgate’s set-up. Coady featured at the same time as the 29-year-old in six of Mings’ appearances with England. The Everton ace has 10 caps.
Everton’s Coady is ‘disappointed’ Mings of Aston Villa is not going to the World Cup
Coady has now told talkSPORT that Southgate disappointed the Everton ace by not taking Mings of Aston Villa to Qatar as well in England’s World Cup squad. The defenders have a close friendship off, as well as on, the pitch and spoke after Southgate confirmed his side.
“Mings is one of my best mates and I speak to him most days,” Coady said. “He’s a fantastic person, a fantastic character and a fantastic player.
“I spoke with him obviously since it came out yesterday and listen, as I said before, I think everybody’s disappointed when one of your friends don’t get in it.”
Southgate would have felt justified in dropping Mings for England’s UEFA Nations League fixtures with Hungary, Germany and Italy in June. The £20m former AFC Bournemouth ace had struggled for Aston Villa under Steven Gerrard last season with a few too many errors.
Yet after Gerrard stripped Mings of the Villans’ captaincy in July and gave the armband to John McGinn, the defender was rejuvenated without the additional pressures. The 6 ft 5 rock has regularly appeared to be back to his best with a succession of dominant displays.
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