Charlie Austin has accused England boss Gareth Southgate of “snobbery” for snubbing Leeds striker Patrick Bamford.
Bamford has scored 16 Premier League goals for Leeds in an outstanding season, helping them to a top-ten finish in their first campaign back in the top flight.
But he’s not been included in an England squad to date, with Southgate preferring the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ollie Watkins as backups for Harry Kane.
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Southgate will soon select his 26-man squad for the European Championships, with Bamford still hoping to be included.
Laura Woods asked Austin about the England manager’s reticence to select the Leeds striker, recalling his previous claim about “snobbery in football”.
Woods said on talkSPORT (via MOT Leeds News): “I’m going to ask you about Patrick Bamford.
“You spoke before about snobbery in football didn’t you and when you’re talking about being picked for England and your international side and all that, Bamford has scored 16 league goals this season now.
“Harry Kane is the only Englishman who has scored more, so is there a snobbery towards Patrick Bamford because he plays for Leeds and not one of the higher teams, what do you think?”
Austin replied: “Yeah I still do believe that, what do you want?
“When you’re picking forwards what do you want, goalscorers? Please, the only person that’s scored more than him is England captain Harry Kane.
“You expect Bamford to be in there [England squad]. For me I think he almost has to go.
“He’s ticked every box to get into the Euros squad but then you look at it and go ‘it’s easier to leave him out because he plays at Leeds’, that’s poor.”
Southgate admitted back in March that Bamford was “unfortunate” to miss out.
“(Bamford was) very close,” Southgate said. “There’s a number of positions in this squad that have been really close calls and we felt we wanted an extra striker.
“We’re really pleased with Harry (Kane) and (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin and what they’ve done. Tammy Abraham hasn’t really been involved for Chelsea over the last four to six weeks.
“And both Ollie and Patrick in particular, their goals record has been good. We like the personalities of both. Ollie is a player we’ve had less interaction with in the past. It’s going to be good to get to know him.
“We like his pressing, the speed and the runs in behind. He’s got some improvement to make in linking the game, but in his first season in the Premier League at a big club, he’s done exceptionally well.
“That’s been a really close call because all the things I’ve said about Ollie I could have said for Patrick as well. So he’s very unfortunate.”
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