Wednesday 8 October 2014 09:58, UK
Gareth Southgate may not think this is the right time for Raheem Sterling to be playing for England Under-21s, but believes the upcoming European U21 Championship play-offs will prove invaluable to Luke Shaw.
Having won their qualifying group at a canter, the unbeaten Young Lions now face a two-legged clash with Croatia as they look to progress to next summer's finals in the Czech Republic.
They prepare for that tournament in the shadow of a miserable performance at last years's edition in Israel, returnhome embarrassed after losing all three games.
It led to manager Stuart Pearce losing his job, with the former Under-21s boss this week saying successor Southgate should get the pick of the talent to avoid similar failure this time around.
Pearce highlighted Sterling as an example of the kind of player that should be featuring against the Croats, but Southgate says this is not the right time for the Liverpool winger to be involved.
"Whilst as a coach you always want the best possible players available, sometimes I don't think it is the right or appropriate challenge for the individual player," Southgate said.
"Raheem is one who I don't say is finished at this level but, clearly, having played in the World Cup, he's now made himself pretty much a first-choice for the senior team.
"What would we get back in terms of his feelings and his mood? He is a great professional, I have to say, so I am sure he would react to it in the right way because he did when he came back with us last year. His training was fantastic.
"But are you going to get exactly the same performance? He has got England seniors, he has got Liverpool with the league, he has got Liverpool with the Champions League.
Raheem is one who I don't say is finished at this level but, clearly, having played in the World Cup, he's now made himself pretty much a first-choice for the senior team.
"On the list of priorities, the 21s wouldn't necessarily be so high. For the group, you think you're bringing back the best players but it wouldn't necessarily guarantee you get a better performance whereas the boys with us this week, for them this is everything.
"So we win both ways, really. We give Raheem the experience of continuing with the seniors and we also get the experience for the group that remains with us."
While Sterling was included in the senior squad for the European Qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia, defenders Calum Chambers and Shaw dropped into the U21s.
The former was bumped back up after an injury to John Stones, although Manchester United left-back Shaw remains and Southgate admitted it was a decision he did not take lightly.
"Leighton Baines did really well last month, so would Luke start for the seniors this time around? What's the best experience for him?" he added.
"I think certainly from his club perspective playing two matches would be good because he has not had a lot of football.
"I know Louis van Gaal was very positive to him about it. Also, having been manager of a national team and spoken so much about the importance of the U21s in preparation for the Dutch last summer, I didn't think we were going to have an issue from the club.
"Then you're thinking where's the player with it because his world has changed a lot since we had him last November.
"He has played as many matches this campaign as our other left-backs, but his world has changed considerably.
"But he has been brilliant. Roy spoke to him, which I think was important, I then spoke to him before we met up and a really good chat since we got here.
"He is looking forward to the game. Yes, he played at the World Cup, he has played friendlies for the seniors, but he has only got three caps for us.
"So although he is making brilliant progress in his career, he is not the finished article so experiences like this can only help him."
