Morgan Gibbs-White enjoyed a bittersweet week with Nottingham Forest, claiming two big victories, but missing out on the England squad.
Gibbs-White scored his penalty as Forest defeated Midtjylland to progress to the quarter-final of the Europa League and then bagged for the 11th time in all competitions this season as Tottenham were beaten 3-0 on Sunday.
England have friendlies against Uruguay and Japan during the latest round of international matches, and with Thomas Tuchel naming 35 players and omitting Gibbs-White, his prospects of making the squad look bleak.
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Following the decision made by the national team boss, Vitor Pereira has been quizzed on his captain not making the Three Lions squad and shared how he’s feeling about the ordeal.
Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White celebrates a goal vs Tottenham
Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira says Morgan Gibbs-White is very sad
Gibbs-White has done everything he possibly could to try and force his way into the World Cup squad but his prospects do now feel bleak.
With Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham all now fit and free from injury, Gibbs-White finds himself some way down the pecking order.
Pereira has defended his captain and feels there has been an oversight from Tuchel when it comes to leaving Gibbs-White out of the squad.
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He told Nottinghamshire Live: “He deserves the national team, but it’s not my decision. It’s a decision of the manager of the national team. Of course, I respect it, but in my opinion, he has the quality and the character to be there.
“He is a fantastic player. He can do everything in the game. He tries to help the team defend, he is intelligent with closing the spaces, he is a danger on the counterattack and a danger when we play with the ball, he gets assists, and he scores goals.
“What else can I say? He is a strong character and a leader.
“He is a little bit sad and disappointed in this moment, of course, he is. But these are the moments in our lives when we need to be stronger and come back to fight.”
Gibbs-White can force his way into England reckoning
The Forest captain still has time to force his way into England contention but it’s going to be difficult from here, with Gibbs-White likely to need a competitor to get injured.
However, he can make it impossible for Tuchel to ignore him should he simply continue in his rich vein of goalscoring form that he’s showcased in the last month or two.
Gibbs-White never shows a lack of effort on a football pitch and he’s going to be a huge player for Forest in the final seven games of the campaign.
For now, he must park England thoughts and simply focus on finishing the 2025/26 campaign as strongly as possible and then seeing what happens.
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