Gareth Southgate admits he was surprised to see Manchester United take a 'huge risk' by playing Jesse Lingard against Wolves last week.
United recalled Lingard to the starting line up for their FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Molineux on Saturday night, despite the fact the midfielder had only just returned to training following injury.
Southgate revealed the conversation he had held with Lingard earlier last week and how he decided that the 26-year-old wasn't fit enough to be called up for the England squad.
However, the England manager was then baffled to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer start Lingard against Wolves just days after he had been ruled out of international duty through injury.
"I mean I was surprised that he started the game, but only because he hadn’t trained before the Wednesday so I guess you would have to talk to [Manchester] United as to why they took that decision," Southgate admitted.
"I am imagining partly because they were missing so many players as well. But as I say, he wasn’t comfortable with it in the game and that was the conversation I had with him.
"I think in my initial conversation with Jesse, he hadn’t trained before the Wednesday when we were naming the squad. So, obviously it’s [Manchester] United’s player and they can take a huge risk on the Saturday, which I think they did.
"I didn’t know the plan, whether he was going to be on the bench or starting the game, throughout the week. But he hadn’t trained and I’d seen him come back in the Liverpool game and break down with that injury, so in my mind he wasn’t ready or at the level to be with us.
"Having seen him against Wolves, I spoke to him because I wanted to see how he saw it. He felt that although he had played, he was very conscious of it and at risk during the game. He felt that he probably needed another period of training to be fit and strong.
"In those situations, I’ve known the player long enough that I’ve got to trust his judgement. We could have called him in and assessed him and done what we’ve done with Marcus but it’s a different sort of injury with the hamstring and more likely to recur.”
