Why has Southgate avoided England's promising youngsters?

Gareth Southgate announced his 27-man squad for their pre-World Cup matches at the end of March and it was a largely conservative selection.

Whilst their were first-time call ups for Burnley's Nick Pope and James Tarkowski as well as Swansea City's Alfie Mason, there were a lack of youngsters who had impressed for England in the youth tournaments last year.

Not only did their Under-17s and Under-20s both win their respective World Cups but the U19's secured their European Championship trophy whilst the U21s were semifinalists in theirs. 

Given the impressive wealth in our youth ranks, Russia would be the perfect opportunity to offer first-hand experience of a senior major tournament to some of England's brighest stars, such as Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Ryan Sessegnon. 

Sancho switched Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in the summer and has already broken into the first-team, making six appearances so far, but has arguably been overlooked because he decided to leave the Premier League. 

Phil Foden, on the other hand, has stuck with Pep Guardiola and City and he too has featured eight times in all competitions and would have most likely played more if he didn't pick up an injury midway through.

The final youngster is Ryan Sessegnon, who has lit up the Championship this campaign: scoring 14 goals in 38 appearances despite normally being utilised as a left-back. No doubt his exclusion is down to his age and his chosen club.

Yes, at 17 years old, Sessegnon is very young and could be slightly overwhelmed by the occasion in Russia. But he's in scintillating form and England could thrive off having a player who is high on confidence and has no expectations.

Brazil in 2014 and the European Championships two years later have proved that England are far off the pace of its rivals so building a formidable team for a future could be the most sensible solution, especially if they can mould one with great team spirit.

Southgate's final 23-man squad doesn't have to be finalised until June 4 at the latest, so there is still time for him to have a change of heart. But given the 'Three Lions' mentality with the World Cup in recent years, it would be a big gamble for the young manager to take... one that no one is convinced he will be prepared to take.