England boss Gareth Southgate insists Anthony Gordon is ‘very close’ to a call-up… as Scotland try to persuade Newcastle to switch allegiance

Gareth Southgate has revealed that Anthony Gordon is ‘very close’ to an England call-up, despite continued interest from Scotland.

The 22-year-old forward is one of four Newcastle United players eligible for both countries, with Harvey Barnes, Elliot Anderson and Tino Livramento also being closely watched by Steve Clarke ahead of next year’s European Championship finals in Germany.

Gordon, who has starred for Eddie Howe’s Magpies this season, currently remains on the outside looking in for England, while the likes of Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer and Ezri Konza are all hoping to make their debuts against Malta at Wembley on Friday evening.

But manager Southgate hinted the player’s patience will be rewarded if he is willing to wait a little longer.

“He is a good player,” said the England boss. ‘Last year he was very good for our Under-21s. He is very close (on a call), I must say. I like his attitude. I like the way he works so hard for the team.

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“Of course I’m sure he was hoping to get a call at this point, but there are good players who play well in that position on the pitch.

‘But I think, like a few others, they always have to think a little further ahead about the opportunities that may arise.

‘I think that is perfectly possible for someone like Anthony with us.’

As for his more famous faces, Southgate is ready to revive his Trent Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment against Malta.

The Liverpool full-back has excelled in a hybrid role as a defender-midfielder – and the manager is keen to take a closer look at the 25-year-old in a more advanced role at Wembley.

The Anfield Academy graduate played as a conventional central midfielder in the first match against Malta earlier this year.

It remains to be seen whether he will be deployed as a full-fledged midfielder tonight, but given that England are likely to dominate, Southgate will give him license to spend most of the match in the engine room.

Midfielder Conor Gallagher is also hoping to start in midfield after some impressive performances for Chelsea, while Jordan Henderson could also feature.

Kalvin Phillips is unavailable after missing three practices due to a personal matter.

On the prospect of playing centre-back, Alexander-Arnold said: ‘I was a midfielder in my teens, so it’s a position I have some knowledge of.

‘How to conduct myself and perform in the middle of the pitch is something I’ve been tasked with – and (I’ve) been watching and trying to learn and adapt.

‘Whether I’m a midfielder or not, my specific skills are probably best suited to someone who plays in the middle of the pitch, someone who controls the game, sets the pace, creates, breaks a line, moves the ball forward. so you would say that these kinds of skills are suitable for someone who plays in the middle of the field.

“You probably get more out of me when I’m in the middle and I can showcase those skills as much as possible.”

England secured progression to the Euro finals with two games to go and look set to seal their place among the top seeds with a win tonight.

However, Southgate is never far from criticism, and he insisted he is hiding from nothing against Malta.

“Well, the reality is that no matter how well we play tomorrow, people will just say it’s a lower-ranked opponent so it won’t be relevant.

‘People will have an opinion. I’m probably tired of fighting that. In the end it will be what it is. That’s why I let our results and achievements speak for themselves.’

The manager revealed he had shown his team footage of England legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who died last month aged 86.

“A big part of what we wanted to do with our players is talk about our identity as a team,” he said.

‘Part of that is knowing the history of our team and understanding how special some of the players who have previously been England internationals are. We had the opportunity to do that this week.”