England head coach Gareth Southgate has warned Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish they face a battle to make the Euro 2024 squad for Germany.

Rashford and Grealish have both endured difficult seasons at their respective clubs for various reasons and Southgate – who also revealed Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones would likely have made his current squad if he was not injured – has hinted the pair are at risk of missing out on the tournament.

Rashford, who was included in the squad to face Brazil and Belgium, has been criticised for a below-par season in which he has scored just seven Premier League goals. He was also recently reprimanded by Manchester United for missing training after a trip to Belfast.

Similarly, Grealish has failed to hit the heights of last season and flitted in and out of the Manchester City team following the arrival of Jeremy Doku.

Southgate, who handed Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon his first call-up on Thursday, has serious options in attacking midfield and said: ‘He [Rashford] has a battle on his hands with Gordon, with [Cole] Palmer, with [Phil] Foden – so we’ve got big competition for places in that area of the field.

Marcus Rashford has been warned he faces a fight to make England’s Euro 2024 squad

Gareth Southgate hinted both Rashford and Grealish may not make the cut this summer

‘What happens while players are with their clubs is club matters because they know the full story. They know exactly what’s going on. We observe everything. I don’t say behaviours off the field are irrelevant because clearly they’re not.

‘But the key thing is we are mainly focusing on the performances on the field. He’s got big competition. So has Jack.

‘These guys are playing well – Gordon, [Jarrod] Bowen, they’re scoring regularly, they perform well, defend well, work hard, they compete and we’ve got really good options in that area of the pitch. I can’t guarantee anybody [a place in the squad]. We have to have an environment where we know in certain positions who our best players might be.

‘We know what Marcus can bring to us but equally everybody has got to perform well between now and the end of the season.’

Meanwhile, the ankle injury suffered by Jones in the win over Brentford last month has prevented the Anfield star from being selected for the first time.

‘He was definitely somebody we were tracking very closely ahead of his injury,’ said Southgate. ‘We were without doubt very excited by his performances.’ 

Rashford and Grealish face stern international competition ahead of the tournament

Liverpool’s Curtis Jones would likely have made the recent squad if he had not been injured

On the chances of controversial United striker Mason Greenwood making his squad, Southgate added: ‘For me I don’t think it’s something for pre-Euros.

‘Allowing him to get his career going again abroad appears to have been a good move but I have to say I’ve not tracked it closely.

‘At this moment it would be a big distraction for the team. I would need to know more details about the whole thing before it was an option.’

But Southgate is not ruling out selecting Chelsea captain Reece James in his Euros squad, despite the right-back not having played since December.