Sam Allardyce watched Everton beat Stoke ahead of England team selection

Football News 24/

Sam Allardyce will name his first England squad on Sunday 28 August, ahead of the Three Lions' opening 2018 World Cup qualifier a week later.

The delay is to enable the new manager to assess the weekend's Premier League fixtures before deciding which players will report to St. George's Park before heading out to Slovakia. Allardyce watched Everton beat Stoke 1-0 on Saturday but wanted to wait until Sunday's fixtures - at West Brom and Manchester City were completed - especially given the possibility that players from both Manchester City and their opponents West Ham could be involved.

Ahead of Sunday's announcement, Allardyce has confirmed there will be a place for goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has yet to play for Manchester City this season: "He will be in the squad, definitely.

"What do we do? I won’t really know that until I speak to Joe, and that’ll be the same with most players when they arrive [to see] what frame of mind they’re in and how they are from a mental and psychological point of view.

"Then it’ll be about making the right selection for Slovakia away and coming back with a victory, hopefully."

Allardyce, who revealed that he will confirm who will captain the Three Lions once the squad has convened at the national football centre next week, says he's been watching games closely since the new season kicked off earlier this month.

"I think every player that's on top of his game at the moment and every player who's played for England recently, we've monitored through the start of the Premier League," he said.

"When we come together in the next couple of days, we will go through the availability of all those players – the ones who were in the Euros and the ones who weren't – and then make our squad decision from there."

Posted on 28th August 2016