No-one’s World Cup place is secure, says England boss Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate has urged England’s World Cup hopefuls to scrap for selection and warned no-one is guaranteed a place on the plane to Qatar.

Southgate made 10 changes from the weekend win over Switzerland as preparations for the winter tournament continued with Tuesday evening’s 3-0 success over Ivory Coast at Wembley.

England will discover their group stage opponents on Friday when the World Cup draw is made in Doha.

With the countdown to the competition firmly under way, Three Lions boss Southgate expects growing competition to fuel the desire of those seeking to make his final squad.

“I’d be picking 18 (players to start) if I picked everybody they tell me should be in – I can’t do that,” said Southgate, who watched Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings score against the Ivorians.

“They can all get on with it and fight it out amongst themselves and we’ll pick the ones that are playing at the best level and who can do the job.

“We’re in a fortunate position that we do have good players.

“You can motivate players as a manager, but there’s no higher motivation than two more on the bench that can come and take your place.

“That’s how the big clubs work and we’re starting to get that competition in most positions on the field.

“We’re always open minded, we’re always assessing, we’re watching them every week, we see the positive qualities and we see the little bits that, ‘OK, how can we improve that a little bit?’.

“We’re all wanting to develop the best possible players and the best possible team.

“Without a doubt, none of the players in the squad can sit and think they’re in the 23, 26 or in the 11. They’ve all got to keep playing well and keep pushing each other.”

Southgate guided England to the World Cup