‘He’s in with a massive chance’: Gary Neville backs Ivan Toney to make England’s World Cup squad

Gary Neville believes Ivan Toney has a ‘huge chance’ of being included in England’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

The Brentford striker received his first international call-up for the Nations League games against Italy and Germany last month.

Toney was again on the scoresheet for Brentford against Brighton on Friday night with a cleverly flipped finish.

Although he was not in the squad against Italy and did not compete against Germany, Neville thinks it is likely that Gareth Southgate will call on Toney for the World Cup, especially after judging him in training.

Neville was only too happy to point out that alongside captain Harry Kane, the options for the England striker are rather limited, especially with Dominic Calvert-Lewin only recently returning from injury.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: “The threat he poses, his hard work, leading. Look at those performances and goals, it’s a beautiful record.

“I think he would have been very frustrated to have left with England and not even compete, but I think Gareth will have measured him in terms of how he was with the squad, how he’s settled in.

“When you think of a 26-man England squad and you think of Calvert-Lewin being injured, Harry Kane, let’s say something happened to him, you should say he has a good chance.” to leave.

“That’s why people may have thought he should have been given minutes in those last caps, but every time I come here and look at him, I think the central defenders he plays against don’t enjoy it.”

Neville believes Toney, given his different playing style to Kane, could be a useful option for England as they progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup.

Neville said: ‘Harry Kane you can’t compete with, he’s a world-class centre-forward, but there’s no doubt there’s no backup who looks like Harry Kane. If England lose him there, he will have to do something else. Or if it’s knockout football when you need something at the end of a match and you need a goal, then maybe that means they need to change.

“They have a lot of England players who can play on either side of Harry Kane, but they don’t have many centre-forwards. We’re talking about a part of the team that isn’t the most blessed.

“I think Ivan Toney is someone who, if he can stay in shape for the next few weeks, has a good chance of going.”

After Toney scored his seventh league goal of the season against Brighton, Jamie Carragher praised the 26-year-old.

While commenting for Sky Sports, Carragher said: “That’s absolutely fantastic from Ivan Toney. This guy isn’t just a target, he’s a class act, really. You can see here with this finish. He has class. That is why he is currently in the England squad and that is why if he continues to do things like this, he will go to Qatar.

As Marcel points out, if Toney can continue to impress, his chances of traveling to Qatar seem high.

Tammy Abraham was also part of England’s final squad, but he has only netted twice in nine Serie A appearances for Roma this season so far this season.

With regard to other possible attack options, Southgate has also called up Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford in the past year, but Toney seems to have a very good chance of being the main backup option for Kane.