Townsend reveals injured NFF target Eze was due to be named in England provisional Euro 2020 squad

Crystal Palace star Andros Townsend has revealed that Eberechi Eze was due to be named in England's provisional squad for the 2020 European Championship, only for manager Gareth Southgate to scratch his name out after he suffered a season-ending injury.

The Nigeria Football Federation target would have been rewarded for a banner first season in the Premier League that saw him contribute four goals and six assists in 34 matches.

Manager Gernot Rohr and NFF boss Amaju Pinnick have attempted to persuade Eze times without number to switch his allegiance to the Super Eagles but the attacking midfielder has been dragging his feet with the hope that he would receive a call-up to the Three Lions.

Ten minutes before the end of a training session ahead of the Premier League clash against Arsenal, Eze ruptured his Achilles and has now undergone surgery to correct the issue.

Asked to react to some rumours that Eze was going to be in the England squad, Townsend told talkSPORT : "Yes I can say this because it has come out in the press.

"As soon as he got in the dressing room, turned on his phone there was a message from somebody in England to say that he was in the provisional England squad.

"That obviously compounded his misery and a lot of us were in tears. It was a sad day.

"He's had his surgery now, hopefully he's on the mend and I know the player he is and character he is, he's going to come back stronger".

Eze trained with the Super Eagles before a cancelled friendly against Burkina Faso in March 2017 but since then his status has changed as he is now provisionally cap-tied to his country of birth England and represented the country in the European U21 Championship in March.

Igho Kingsley

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