Jack Grealish still believes Gareth Southgate should have taken him to Euro 2024 but is feeling the love under interim England boss Lee Carsley.The 29-year-old was a high-profile omission from the summer's shot at glory in Germany having been part of the team that reached the Euro 2020 showpiece and then 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.Grealish was "absolutely heartbroken" to be dropped from the expanded pre-tournament selection and Southgate’s decision still sticks in the craw."I think everyone can imagine I was absolutely devastated," the Manchester City winger told BBC Radio 5 Live."I mentioned it before saying that it was probably one of the most difficult periods of my life, in terms of football especially."But I think when you’re in the situation you’ve got to try and flip it into a positive and do what you can to come back stronger and better for it.
I’m obviously still working towards that now."I felt like I didn’t have the best season. You look at some players in my position, the likes of Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, people like this, they scored a lot of goals, which 100 per cent I agree with."But I know that my game is not just about goals.
I think I give so much more to the team than just goals."I think you need a bit of a balance in every position and I class myself as quite an experienced player now.
I’ve played in quite a lot of big games, Champions League finals, FA Cup finals and I’ve won a lot of stuff now."I still think I should have (been picked) but obviously it wasn’t meant to be."Grealish digested that disappointment during a rare summer off, although he admits watching any of the Euros was "really difficult".He was recalled in Carsley’s first selection having made a promising start to