London: England manager Thomas Tuchel has said the team should embrace and utilise Jude Bellingham’s fiery competitiveness and on-field intensity, after recalling the Real Madrid star for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Serbia at home and Albania away.

Bellingham’s absence from the squad for last month’s 5-0 victory over Latvia — a result that secured England’s qualification for next year’s World Cup in North America — had sparked rumours of tension between the player and the manager.

Addressing the media on Friday, Tuchel dismissed any suggestions of fallout and reiterated his admiration for the 22-year-old midfielder. The England boss, who had publicly apologised in June for remarking that his mother found Bellingham’s on-field behaviour “repulsive,” insisted that the matter

See Full Page