Chelsea manager Graham Potter admits he was unaware Graham Potter intended to select Mason Mount in his England squad for this month’s games against Ukraine and Italy.
The midfielder will not be available for the Blues’ Premier League clash with Everton on Saturday but was named in the 23-man squad Southgate announced on Thursday.
Mount has not played for Chelsea since the 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham at the end of February, and will miss Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge with an injury to his pubic bone that will also keep him off international duty.
The PA news agency understands that a breakdown in communication between Chelsea and the England camp led to Mount’s inclusion in the squad announced on Thursday, but that conversations had taken place in advance regarding Raheem Sterling’s lack of availability. Sterling, who has a hamstring injury, was not on Thursday’s list.
Potter admitted his surprise at Mount’s selection, and confirmed the player will not be fit to play for club or country until after the international window.
"He’s never been available as far as I’m aware," said Potter. "Probably as a club we will (seek clarity on why he was named). I don’t have all the contacts of all the doctors.
"As far as I was aware, he wasn’t going to be available for us at the weekend. He needed a bit of time for his injury to settle down which pretty much ruled him out of the England thing.
"Whether (England) needed a bit of time to double check that, I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything untoward. Sometimes, a player can be named but there’s still a couple of days where things can be changed. As far as I was aware he wasn’t available.
"Mason has good days, and he has days where he has a setback. It’s a niggly one. Hopefully if we can manage him through this period he might be OK."
