England manager Gareth Southgate has explained his reason for not selecting Kobbie Mainoo.

The Manchester United starlet has emerged as a serious midfield option for club and country.

While he has already become an automatic starter at United, he will have to work much harder to earn a senior Three Lions call-up.

England have put out a 25-man squad to take on Brazil and Belgium in friendly matches.

“I think that he's doing brilliantly for a young player and we're never slow to put a young player into seniors," Southgate said.

“But he's only had a handful of games and you have to be very careful development-wise in making those decisions at the right time.

“So we think ideally, we should allow him that space to develop at his own speed. He's not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude (Bellingham) and Bukayo (Saka) were when they came in for the first time.

“But I repeat, he's doing really well for a young player. He's a good footballer, you can see that. And he's getting some fabulous experience with Manchester United at the moment. And he looks a really good character."