Should Lascelles have been picked for England?
Last Thursday England manger Gareth announced named a 27 man squad to face Italy and Holland in two international friendlies before Russia this summer.
The majority of players who haven't been included, unless currently injured, will stand a very high chance of missing out this summer.
But the major talking point here in the North-East is Southgate not taking a chance in picking Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles.
Lascelles has been the key to Newcastle this season as the leader of Rafa's squad and is a huge reason that Newcastle are currently sitting 13th in the Premier League and look set to survive, despite earlier worries at the beginning of the season.
In just 25 appearances this season Lascelles has managed to lead Newcastle to seven clean sheets as well as score three goals.
I think this shows that Lascelles could provide the experience of leadership that the England defence is lacking, also with three goals Lascelles may add some danger from set pieces and corners.
With 21 interceptions, 22 tackles and 274 total clearances in 25 games Lascelles is clearly heavily involved and can be relied on to put in a big performance when needed.
It appears that Lascelles meets all criteria asked for by Southgate and more, as he is currently fit, is playing well and is in-form but also is a leader and has been for nearly two seasons now at St James Park.
However, with not being picked now Lascelles will need to showcase his skills in the last eight games of the season as well as hope for a drop in-from or an injury to another centre-back before Southgate will take a chance on the Newcastle captain.
So Newcastle fans please feel free to comment below, do you think that Lascelles should have been called up for the England squad?
Credit to The Daily Star for the imagery used in this article.