Gareth Southgate To Rotate Team As England Eye FIFA World Cup Berth

England manager Gareth Southgate plans to rotate his team against San Marino as the Three Lions look to seal their place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Monday. Southgate's side will be guaranteed to feature at next year's tournament in Qatar if they avoid defeat in San Marino. The Group I leaders crushed Albania 5-0 on Friday and should have few problems with the world's lowest-ranked side in their last qualifier on Monday. After Harry Kane's hat-trick and goals from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson put England five up half-time against Albania, Southgate was able to make a raft of second half changes to rest his stars.

But he still plans to switch things up in San Marino, while also admitting Mason Mount and Luke Shaw are likely to miss out again as they recover from a tooth infection and a head injury respectively.

"Yes, we will make quite a few changes but what we've done well in the past is sustain good performances, even with those changes," Southgate said.

"Although it was one of the more experienced teams we've fielded, we still had a lot of exciting young talent out there."

Maguire's headed opener for England was a welcome boost after a difficult period for the out-of-form Manchester United centre-back.

Maguire celebrated by sliding to his knees, cupping his ears and sticking his fingers in them in what was perceived as message that he won't be distracted by his critics.

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Topics mentioned in this article

England Harry Kane Luke Shaw Harry Maguire Football