Southgate backs Trippier to thrive after Clyne drops out of England squad

Gareth Southgate believes Kieran Trippier is one of the best crossers of the ball in the Premier League as the right-back prepares to make his England debut.

Nathaniel Clyne has withdrawn from Southgate's squad for games against Scotland and France next month, with Trippier set to challenge his Tottenham team-mate Kyle Walker for a place in the team.

Trippier is in the England squad for the first time, having started five of Tottenham's last nine games, and Southgate hailed the 26-year-old's quality on the ball.

"We'll be without Nathaniel Clyne," Southgate told reporters on Tuesday. "He had been carrying an injury and that's why we named three right-backs, we thought that might be an issue.

"So we'll be with Kieran [Trippier] and Kyle Walker, but Kieran impressed me at Burnley in the season they had in the Premier League when he was there and I think he has finished the season very well with Tottenham.

"I watched him a lot at Burnley, he's got a good mentality, his play in the final third of the pitch is of a high quality, he is one of the best crossers of the ball in the league, I think, and his selection of pass is good.

"It's obviously been an unusual situation, we've had two of our best full-backs both at Tottenham and it's been nice from our point of view that Kieran's had matches towards the end of the season.

"That's enabled us to have a more realistic case for picking him because he's somebody that we’ve been following right the way through."