RYAN Bertrand will not be playing for England at the World Cup in Russia next month after Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate overlooked the Saints left-back.

St Mary's goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who was in superb form as the Premier League season ended and was backed for a surprise call-up in some quarters, has also not been selected in the 23-man roster.

It won't be a huge surprise for McCarthy to miss out but it will for Bertrand who had been a regular for England at left-back.

The 28-year-old has 19 caps and started four of the last eight internationals, although missed out in the last two games having pulled out of the squad through injury.

Bertrand made 40 appearances for Saints this season but Southgate instead selected Tottenham's Danny Rose, who will compete with Manchester United's Ashley Young for the left-back position.

“I believe this is a squad which we can be excited about," Southgate said.

“It is a young group, but with some really important senior players so I feel the balance of the squad is good, both in terms of its experience, its character and also the positional balance.

“We have a lot of energy and athleticism in the team, but players that are equally comfortable in possession of the ball and I think people can see the style of play we’ve been looking to develop.

“The selection process has been over months really, it’s not just been the last few weeks. We feel the team are improving and we want to continue that momentum."

On Bertrand, Southgate said: "Ryan is very unfortunate in that it's probably one of the strongest positions we have. Ryan has had a decent season but I just felt the others were ahead of him."

There's no room for any Saints men on the stand-by list either, with Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton picked ahead of McCarthy, despite not playing since September. 

Goalkeepers

Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope.

Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gary Cahill, Fabian Delph, Phil Jones, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ashley Young.

Midfielders

Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Forwards

Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck.

Stand-by

Tom Heaton, James Tarkowski, Lewis Cook, Jake Livermore and Adam Lallana.