Harry Kane reacts to Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire missing out on England Euros squad

England captain Harry Kane is “sad” Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire were unable to make the Euro 2024 squad. Gareth Southgate omitted the duo from his final 26-man group for the tournament in Germany after they had made the provisional 33-man squad.

Manchester United centre-back Maguire was left out due to a calf injury that has kept him out since April. Southgate feared he would be short of match fitness and the defender admitted he was “absolutely gutted” in a social media post.

Manchester City forward Grealish was another high-profile player to be cut. The rest of the England squad were understood be taken aback by the £100million attacker being left out.

And Kane said: “For those boys it is really hard, tough to take. For H especially, being injured. I know how much England means to him and how much he loves representing his country. 

“Of course it is sad to see them go but ultimately that is what you get for playing for England. The manager has to take tough decisions.

“Everyone here has earned the right to be here and has proven they deserve to be there. That is what we have said to everyone.

“We go away and everyone should be proud they are representing England at a major tournament. Everyone brings something different to the team and we are going to need all 26 players if we are going to be successful. That is the message, that we are together.

“We have a lot of fantastic players. Players who have had really, really good seasons. You can’t ignore that. Players at the top of their game, on high form, who deserve to be playing for their country. 

“Being England manager is not easy. You have a lot of tough decisions, a lot of players to pick from. You can only choose 26. We have done that – and I think we have a fantastic squad.

“But as always, it is about how you handle the games and the tournament, how you handle the pressure. We are going to have to deal with that in the weeks to come.”

Grealish and Maguire have racked up 36 and 63 caps respectively. Of the 26 players going to Germany, only six – skipper Kane, Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice, Kieran Trippier, John Stones and Kyle Walker – have more than 36.

Eleven of Southgate’s selected players have less than 10 caps but Kane has no concerns about the camp. The Bayern Munich striker added: “I think we have more than enough experience. Especially a lot of players who have played in two or three tournaments now.

“There are always going to be new players, players who deserve to be here, players who are in their first tournament. It is about making sure they feel comfortable and they feel at ease when they are training or on the pitch, just to be themselves. We have more than enough.

“The lads who have played in a lot of tournaments have to step up and be there for the ones who need a bit of help.”

England were booed off the pitch at Wembley after a defeat to Iceland on Friday night in their final warm-up friendly. But Kane is confident the setback will give the Three Lions an extra edge in their Group C opener with Serbia on Sunday.

He continued: “This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think. There is a lot of work to do.

“We fell below our standards without the ball and that is something we have to review and get better with. There probably was not enough hunger in the duels, in the second balls and winning those. You have to be moire clinical, sustain the pressure and really suffocate teams.

“I have said many times to judge us on the tournament form, on the tournament football. Of course there will be some noise about Iceland but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so.

“Ultimately it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch. Being so close in the last Euros, there is a real hunger to be back. It comes around quickly, if I’m honest.

“We had the World Cup and we are back here again. I feel like we are on the right path. But as we all know as well, it is really difficult to win these tournaments.

“There are a lot of things that you have to do right and prepare right, and you need a bit of luck here and there. Every winner does. We have that mindset that we can achieve it. We also know there is a lot of hard work from now until the final in July.”