Bristol Rovers boss Joey Barton believes Gareth Southgate has 'missed a trick' by not selecting Brentford marksman Ivan Toney in his 26-man England squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Southgate preferred Newcastle United forward Callum Wilson, who has scored three goals in as many games, and six goals in 10 games in the Premier League this term. However, Barton insists that Toney's record of 26 penalties scored from 27 is a weapon that Southgate should've used.
England lost the European Championship final against Italy on penalties in 2021, as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed. The Three Lions have a historically poor record in shootouts at major international competitions - losing seven out of the nine that they've faced.
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"I know it's going to be moderate for Qatar but it's still going to be 23/24, dry heat and look at the proximity of games and I look through the squad - Philipps, Walker, even Callum Wilson, they've got bust hamstrings and soft tissue injuries," Barton told Bristol Live.
The ex-Newcastle midfielder added: "Penalty shootouts, I can't believe he hasn't taken Toney. I think they've cut their nose off to spite their face because he's probably the best taker in the Premier League. Major tournaments, most of the time when you get to the knockout stages, England know only too well how important penalty shootouts are. He's got a good goalie, Pickford can save, but you also need players who can put it in the back of the net.
"Gareth has shown he thinks about that because he's obviously done a Pizza Hut advert where he had a bang on his head where he missed one. Plus in the last tournament where he made a substitution in terms of bringing lads on take a penalty, Rashford and Saka, so it's clearly in his mindset and Ivan Toney is arguably England's best penalty taker."
Wilson has been capped four times by England but last represented his country as a second half substitute in a 6-0 victory in Bulgaria in October 2019. Toney is still awaiting his first cap for England, as he was an unused substitute in September's 3-3 draw against Germany, after he received his first international call-up during the previous international break.
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