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#3 The wild card – Danny Ings
One man who appears to have vaulted himself into England contention with his recent performances – despite not having an international cap since October 2015, when coincidentally, he replaced Kane in a match against Lithuania – is Southampton’s Danny Ings. With 14 Premier League goals to his name – half of them coming since the start of December – he’s undoubtedly England’s most in-form striker right now.
For years – even dating back as far as Glenn Hoddle’s reign as England boss – fans and pundits have stated that the Three Lions should pick their players on form, not reputation, and if that’s the case, then giving Ings his first call-up for nearly five years is a no-brainer.
The Saints hitman seemingly has everything you’d need to slot into Southgate’s side; he’s quick, strong, and his finishing instincts are absolutely fantastic. Not only is Ings a classic goal-poacher, but he’s also capable of surprising brilliance at times too, as we saw when he pulled off a goal reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne’s legendary strike against Scotland in Southampton’s recent win over Tottenham.
Before banking on Ings, though, it’s worth considering a couple of pointers. Firstly, outside of a single prolific season for Burnley in the Championship – back in 2013-14 – Ings has never been as prolific a striker as he appears to be now; he scored just 7 for Southampton last season, for instance. And while it’s true that a series of injuries curtailed his career at Liverpool, it could well be that his current hot streak is a purple patch that might fade away as quickly as it began.
To add to this, Ings has been playing as part of a front two for the Saints, often alongside Shane Long – who has been used to hold up the ball and allow Ings to dart into the box to score his goals. This wouldn’t be an option for England, who would rather look to Ings to hold the ball up in order to bring wide forwards like Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho into the attacking play.
The Saints hitman has certainly earned an international recall; he’s more worthy of a call-up than Callum Wilson, for instance, as the Bournemouth man hasn’t scored a league goal since September, but is he the solution to an England side without Harry Kane? Likely not – instead he’d be better as a dangerous option from the bench.
