Euro 2024: Why England manager Gareth Southgate will not trust Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw to judge their fitness

The Three Lions manager admitted his experience with Middlesbrough tells him he cannot trust what they tell him about their fitness when he pares the group down on Friday.

Southgate is “pleased with the progress” of the Manchester United pair but neither trained at Middlesbrough's Rockliffe on Sunday, ruling them out of Monday's St James' Park friendly against Bosnia Herzegovina. Nor did Anthony Gordon.

Whilst Southgate is hopeful the Newcastle United winger could face Iceland at Wembley on Friday, the other two are set to miss out.

Sheffield-born centre-back Maguire missed the last five club matches of 2020-21 and the opening two group games of the last European Championship before returning to play a key role all the way to the final, which left-back Shaw scored in.

Shaw is the only specialist left-back in the 33. Southgate has admitted he is a “long shot” but could still be taken as a “wild card”.

Asked how much he would consult his players over their fitness, Southgate replied: “As little as possible. They're lying buggers really!

“If you're in a relegation battle, the treatment room is absolutely full. If you're in a cup final it's empty. I've learned that, from being here (Middlesbrough, as player and manager), and playing cup finals as well.

“They have great intentions and are super-positive, but equally they want to be on the plane, so have got to have a more in-depth view.”

Whilst Southgate did not name his team for Monday, he dropped plenty of hints.

Newcastle United full-back Kieran Trippier will captain, meaning Harry Kane is set to watch from the sidelines. The plan is for the Bayern Munich striker to start on Friday having recovered from a back injury.

The same goes for winger Bukayo Saka, who missed Arsenal's final Premier League match of the campaign with a slight muscle issue.

Southgate is not planning any debutants in his XI, though there could be a first start, and Barnsley-born John Stones will not play.

That is almost certain to mean a centre-back partnership of Marc Guehi and Lewis Dunk.

Kobbie Mainoo, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham have been given extra time off.

Although Southgate is unsure if Maguire will be fit to face Serbia in England's opening game of the tournament on June 16, there are no such concerns over his ersthwhile central defensive partner Stones.

“John is fine,” he said. “Him playing in the (FA) Cup final took a little bit out of the heat for Monday's game.”

Getting everyone the right amount of football and rest is a tricky balance the manager must strike this week.

“A big aspect of this week is the physical aspect and players that need minutes, balancing off the jigsaw of how long can this one have, who needs to come off, what does that mean for the second game and who can start,” explained Southgate.

“It’s a bit like a pre-season period, really.”