\n

England manager, Gareth Southgate, has hinted that he could deploy Bukayo Saka from the left-back position again.<\/p>\n

Southgate was forced to move Saka from the right wing to the left side of defence, as the Three Lions chased down an equalizer in their Round of 16 clash against Slovakia.<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham\u2019s stunning overhead kick made it 1-1 before Harry Kane scored the winner in extra time.<\/p>\n

It sets up a quarter-final clash for England against Switzerland on July 6.<\/p>\n

Before the game, Saka had said he was not keen on playing at left-back, with the team struggling in that position due to Luke Shaw\u2019s injury and Kieran Trippier, who has started every game so far, not being a natural left-footer.<\/p>\n

However, Southgate opted to drop Saka back to the left-sided defensive role when Cole Palmer replaced Trippier in the 66th minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt that Bukayo at left-back gave us an extra attacking outlet,\u201d Southgate told BBC Radio Five Live.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good option to have. I have to say the courage shown by the players was fantastic tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Euro 2024: Southgate hints at playing Saka in left-back again after Slovakia win<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England manager, Gareth Southgate, has hinted that he could deploy Bukayo Saka from the left-back position again. Southgate was forced…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2713,15,2542,15316,2715,160],"tags":[1279,235,1484,2716,16967,19469,180,2410,2546,15317,2723,201,685],"class_list":["post-39483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euro-2024","category-news","category-saka","category-slovakia","category-southgate","category-sport","tag-1279","tag-after","tag-again","tag-euro","tag-hints","tag-left-back","tag-news","tag-playing","tag-saka","tag-slovakia","tag-southgate","tag-sport","tag-win"],"yoast_head":"\n