England manager Gareth Southgate has explained the reason behind Kyle Walker's omission for the upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.

Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold has been named in place of the Manchester City veteran.

And Southgate has defended his decision.

"We thought it was a good opportunity for Trent and for Reece [James]," he said of his defensive picks. "These young full-backs are exciting and we need to give them their opportunities as well.

"With Kyle, I had a long chat with him. We felt this was an opportunity to look at the two younger full-backs.

"We know all there is to know about Kyle, he'll be back with us for the games in June. He is an important part of the progress we've made as a team and, you can see in the biggest matches for Manchester City this year, he has still been a key player for them."