Gareth Southgate’s Aston Villa snub sends clear message to Wolves captain Conor Coady

Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Conor Coady has earned the chance to play for England at Molineux next month.

Coady was handed his latest Three Lions call-up by Gareth Southgate on Tuesday as part of a 27-man squad for four Nations League fixtures. England will travel to Hungary and Germany, before returning to these shores to play two games at Molineux.

The first of those matches, against Italy on June 11, will be played behind-closed-doors due to sanctions imposed by UEFA. But the second game with Hungary on June 14 will be staged in front of a packed Molineux.

Coady was virtually an ever-present in the best Premier League defence outside the top four last season. Some Wolves supporters believe the 2021/22 campaign was Coady’s finest in old gold, despite the team’s woeful form during the run-in.

And Southgate has clearly been impressed enough to hand Coady a place in his latest squad as the England manager begins to finalise his plans for the World Cup in Qatar. Southgate has included defensive rookies Ben White, Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi in the squad at the expense of Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings.

For the past two years Southgate’s preferred central defenders have been John Stones, Harry Maguire, Coady and Mings. While Mings has seen his place come under threat, Coady’s selection is further confirmation of his elevated status within the current set-up.

The 29-year-old has become part of Southgate’s leadership group and assistant manager Steve Holland lauded him as the ‘player of the tournament’ at last summer’s Euros, despite the fact Coady didn’t make an appearance. "In the dressing room before the game, he speaks like he’s captain, despite the fact that he’s not been on the pitch yet - which is incredibly difficult