England 'taking the next steps' in October camp, says Tuchel

England head coach Thomas Tuchel explained how the Three Lions’ last camp played a ‘huge role’ in this month’s squad selection after naming his team for October’s international window earlier today.

Tuchel’s side signed off September with a 5-0 victory over Serbia in Belgrade as part of England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

And that result in particular informed the Three Lions boss’ decision making this time around.

“It was only three weeks now since the last camp and the last win, last performance,” he said.

“The result was an excellent result and even more important, it was well deserved from our performance, so we decided very quickly that we want to reward and everyone and bring the same group back into camp.

“Teamwork and team spirit and team effort was on the highest level throughout the week. I was so glad that the team proved it in the match.

“We had a big win against a strong opponent in a difficult away match, so the question was why not bring the same group in because they set the standards?”

Notably, Bukayo Saka returns to the fold, having last turned out for England in an international match-up against Senegal at the City Ground back in June.

“We have unfortunately two injuries at the moment with Tino [Livramento] and Noni [Madueke] and we bring Bukayo Saka in to replace Noni, and Jarell Quansah was a late call-up last time and he will stay in camp,” explained Tuchel.

“[Saka is] a crucial player for Arsenal. He needs to prove a point because we took some steps in the last camp and I have no doubt that he’s ready for that.”

England take on Wales on Thursday 9 October (7.45pm BST kick-off) at Wembley Stadium in an international fixture before travelling to Latvia on Tuesday 14 October (7.45pm BST kick-off) to pick up where they left off in a bid to qualify for next year’s tournament.

“It is an Alzheimer’s Society international – it brings a very important topic into the spotlight,” said Tuchel on the Wales clash.

“I can totally understand that people will maybe go and fall into the trap of going into the narrative that it’s only a friendly and then we are almost qualified and it’s an easy match in Latvia looking at the table, but it’s the opposite.

“We have to keep going. First of all, it’s Wales, so it’s a derby, it’s emotional and it’s a big crowd in Wembley.

“The competition is on to be in the squad first of all, to be selected; competition is on to be on the pitch and play.”

And Tuchel explained that his team will be taking a ‘very serious’ approach to the upcoming camp.

“Now, it is about creating habits out of the standards that the group set for themselves,” he continued.

“We want to prove a point that we are ready to take the next steps and build from what we started in the last camp.

“It counts straightaway. We go into a World Cup season and the competition is on. The message has not changed. We will use these two matches to take the next steps.”