Paul Ince believes that England will beat Ukraine in their upcoming international match, and questioned the failure to pick James Ward-Prowse in the squad for the weekend fixture.
The teams play a Euro 2024 qualifier on Saturday in Wroclaw, Poland, and manager Gareth Southgate has received criticism for some of the choices he made in selecting his squad.
Under-fire Manchester United defender Harry Maguire is included, as is Jordan Henderson despite his move to the Saudi Pro League, and Kalvin Phillips is part of the squad even though he has struggled for minutes at Manchester City since his switch from Leeds United.
Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling is also not included, and Ince finds some of the choices hard to understand.
He told LuckyBlock.com: “It's always tough against Ukraine. England will be tested. I still expect them to come away with the win but Ukraine won't be pushovers.
“I understand why Jordan Henderson has been included. He's a leader and there's more to it than form on the pitch. The strange one for me is Kalvin Phillips. I don't understand why he's in the squad. He was wonderful for Leeds but he's not had much game time.
“I was surprised James Ward-Prowse wasn't included in the last squad. When there's a free-kick and you need a goal, everyone always thinks of him. There's no reason why Sterling shouldn't be in the squad either. He was our number one player at the last Euros.”