James Maddison: England should take punt on Leicester star and ditch the Southgate straitjacket - Warm-Up

TUESDAY'S BIG STORIES Get him on the plane Ad Oh James, why have you left it so late? Premier LeagueHaaland and Foden both score hat-tricks as City hit six past shell-shocked UnitedYESTERDAY AT 12:00 The answer, of course, is he hasn’t. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, no Englishman (well, except Harry Kane) has had more Premier League goal involvements than James Maddison. In a team that is stranded in the relegation zone, he has somehow managed to enhance his reputation.

And the only difference between him and Jack Grealish is that one of them has an end product and the other cost £100 million. Two goals and an assist in the 4-0 scalping of Nottingham Forest have only increased calls for Gareth Southgate to get him on the plane. And it’s hard to disagree.

England are desperate for creativity. Someone to kick it against an opposition arm so Harry Kane can thwack home a penalty. But Maddison’s hopes are slim given England’s next warm-up match for the World Cup in Qatar is a clash with Iran at the World Cup in Qatar.

That’s not a lot of time to say hi to the lads, work out Gareth Southgate’s system – defend a 1-0 with everything you have, until extra-time when it falls apart – and also make enough of an impression to become 2022’s answer to Grealish at the Euros. But to his credit, he still believes it is possible. «I am not naive, I know there are top, top players in the forward areas but I have the self-belief I am a top player and can be in that category,” he told Sky Sports.