England boss Gareth Southgate admits the form of his players was important in naming his final squad.

The 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar starting this month, and Southgate has named his initial squad for the tournament.

Southgate was asked about the exclusion of Roma forward Tammy Abraham from his 26-man squad.

"Tammy had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time really," he told the media on Thursday.

"It's not a case where we're three or four weeks away from the finals and the start of the first match.

"We're now 10 days away. Form could be more important. We're watching players' club form but we don't really know where they are until we see them face to face and on the training pitch.

"There will be medical issues that we're not aware of. We know their form in matches but you don't get the full picture until you speak with them, work with them and see how they train."