Albania vs England preview: Southgate purrs over strength in depth![Copy icon](/ls-web-assets/svgs/common/link-471b4.svg)
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Gareth Southgate believes England’s strength in depth means they can continue to be fluid when it comes to systems and style.
After a much-changed XI cruised past minnows San Marino with a 5-0 win on Thursday, the Three Lions step up their World Cup qualifying campaign in Albania tonight.
And while Southgate knows Poland — who head to Wembley on Wednesday — should theoretically pose the only significant test on the road to Qatar, he is excited about the squad at his disposal.
Competition for places
The England boss, 50, said: "We'd be foolish to pin ourselves to something now when everything is so fluid and things change so quickly.
"We've got lots of really good competition for places. And yes, we think there are a couple of different ways we can play and I believe that flexibility will be important.
"But the most pleasing thing is the depth. When we've got youngsters like Jude [Bellingham] coming on [against San Marino] and playing with the type of confidence he did.
"Then to see Ollie [Watkins] come on and get his goal. I think the reaction to his goal, in particular, told you a lot about this team and this squad.
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"They were so pleased for him. I think they make it easier for young players and new players to come in and be themselves and to bed in.
"I really liked the reaction of the team to his goal."
King Kane returns
England skipper Harry Kane will return to the side after sitting out the San Marino victory and is looking to end a six-game goalless run for his country.
Not that Southgate is worried about his star marksman, who despite scoring 32 goals in 48 internationals has endured two similar runs before.
He added: "The games for him in the autumn were unique.
"In August, he scored and was wrongly disallowed in the first 10 minutes of the first game. If that goes in, the whole autumn can look very different.
"But he was in the middle of pre-season in that period, so still getting up to speed physically.
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"Again in October, we couldn't start him in the first game because he came in with a bit of an injury problem — and then we were down to 10 men within half-hour of the second.
"I'm certainly not concerned about Harry in terms of his goals. He's the leading scorer in the Premier League and leading assists, I think. It's a remarkable statistic."
England duo Marcus Rashford (foot) and Bukayo Saka (hamstring) have both been ruled out of tonight's game and Wednesday's clash with Poland.
Ermir Lenjani’s first-half strike saw Albania scrape past Andorra 1-0 on Thursday and they will look to build on that with a famous — albeit unlikely — victory over the Three Lions.
Did you know?
England have won all four of their previous matches against Albania, all of which have been World Cup qualifiers.
Three Lions keeper Nick Pope has not conceded a goal in any of his five international appearances so far.
Albania have won their last four international matches. They have never won five consecutive games in their entire international football history.