Jarrad Branthwaite left out of England squad for Nations League decider with Spain - as James Hill and Dan Burn leapfrog defender in Thomas Tuchel's pecking order

· DailyMail

The Everton centre back's omission means that two rivals who were not in the original squad but were added last week, Dan Burn and James Hill, are now seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.

Jarrad Branthwaite has been left out of England’s matchday squad for the Nations League decider in Spain, raising questions over his future involvement under Thomas Tuchel .

The Everton centre back’s omission means that two rivals who were not in the original squad but were added last week, Dan Burn and James Hill, are now seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.

There was a clue as to Tuchel’s uncertainty over Branthwaite when, ahead of last Thursday's Croatia game, he revealed concerns over his suitability to England’s way of playing.

> ‘Jarrad Branthwaite is doing very well but it's a very different style of play for him from Everton towards us,’ said the head coach.

Tuchel then selected Burn ahead of him for the 2-1 win, and said: ‘You can see that Dan Burn is straight away a big voice in training and is more used to the style with Newcastle from the last two seasons with Eddie Howe , where they followed in a high press and man-to-man.’

It had been thought that Branthwaite, 24, could emerge as a starter at left-sided centre back, given his good club form this season. That now feels unlikely, with Burn and Marc Guehi , who is currently injured, preferred by Tuchel.

Branthwaite has made two substitute appearances under the German, totalling 28 minutes. Also left out of the matchday squad for Sunday’s game in Madrid are Josh King and James Garner.

Everton midfielder Garner came off the bench against Croatia at Wembley and thought he had scored his first England goal, only for VAR to rule it out for offside. He now misses the chance to build on that cameo against the world champions.

For King, 19, the wait for a senior debut continues after his maiden call-up, a reward for an impressive start to the season with Fulham. Tuchel was forced to trim three players from his 26-man travelling squad, with the return to fitness of defenders Ezri Konsa and Djed Spence increasing competition for places.

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