Martin Keown is surprised we haven’t seen more of Bukayo Saka since his starring performance against Austria pre-tournament.

Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring their side s first goal of the game during the International Friendly at The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. Picture date: Wednesday June 2, 2021. Copyright: Lindsey Parnaby
Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring their side s first goal of the game during the International Friendly at The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. Picture date: Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Copyright: Lindsey Parnaby

Two games into Euro 2020, we’re still yet to see Bukayo Saka make an appearance for England at the tournament. He made the bench for the opening game against Croatia, but he missed out on the squad to face Scotland.

That wasn’t entirely surprising, as he’s one of a group of players on the fringes on the squad and they’re probably all going to rotate in and out from game to game. But England certainly lacked some of Saka’s qualities against Scotland.

Martin Keown thinks we perhaps haven’t seen enough of Saka since his winning goal and Player of the Match performance against Austria.

“I think he is a player that can make things happen,” Keown said. “I’m a little bit surprised we haven’t seen more of him since his performance against Austria. He showed that he really had that cutting edge in that friendly.

“We’ll have to see what Gareth has got in mind, but there is such competition for places. There are five substitutes that the manager can make, so there will be opportunities to get everyone on.”

After Saka’s performance against Austria, Southgate praised him for linking the game well, his ability to receive the ball in traffic in the middle of the field, and the way he gets away from challenges, as well as his defensive work.

It’s just a shame that when England needed someone to receive the ball between the lines and turn and run at the Scottish defence, Saka wasn’t involved. Perhaps Southgate will rectify that against the Czech Republic, but I’m not holding out hope.