England team news vs. Finland: Man City youngster and former Man Utd midfielder handed shock starts

Former Manchester United academy product Angel Gomes has been handed his first senior England start when the Three Lions host Finland in the Nations League on Tuesday night.

The 24-year-old Lille midfielder was one of a number of surprise names in interim manager Lee Carsley’s first squad as the former Everton and Derby County star takes charge of England as the Football Association consider their options to succeed former manager Gareth Southgate. Gomes, who left the Red Devils to join Lille during the summer of 2020, earned his first senior cap on Saturday when he replaced Kobbie Mainoo for the final quarter of an hour of the 2-0 win against the Republic of Ireland - and the switch of past and current United stars has now taken place from the start of Tuesday’s game.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, interim manager Carsley admitted he could look to use Gomes, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer in slightly different roles as he looked to resolve the Three Lions’ issues with struggling to control games on a consistent basis.

He said: “I think we have produced them. It’s us just getting our mindset as coaches to understand that, to play a player like that you are going to forsake some of the physicality but you are going to have the ball. A lot of it is just the belief bit. I am not saying we didn’t in the past but I definitely went a different way with our team selection. Players like Angel, like Phil, like Cole, they are more than capable of playing in central positions and controlling games.”

Manchester City duo Rico Lewis and John Stones have been recalled at the expense of Levi Colwill and Harry Maguire and Ezri Konsa has replaced replace Marc Guehi, Jack Grealish retains his place as a number ten and Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka have been handed another chance to impress in wide positions. The latter duo will hope to provide the ammunition for England captain Harry Kane as he looks to celebrate bringing up a century of appearances in fine style. The Football Association are expected to award a golden cap to Kane ahead of the game - and the striker has already revealed he is eyeing another eye-catching century before he brings an end to his England career.

He said: “When you look at the list (of players with a century of caps) it is a list of some our greatest players.  I’m sure when I’m retired I’ll look back on this with immense pride.  I’ve done around 15, 16, 17 caps a year whereas a normal year would be 10.  The goals were similar. I felt I was on 30 goals and then I went to 50 and then 60. It is definitely there and definitely possible. I feel like I am in a good place and these are good targets to try to reach.  Some people may see them as unrealistic but I would rather go for something unrealistic and not quite make it rather than be comfortable just saying I will be happy with 70 or 80 goals.”