Gareth Southgate has until May 14 to submit England's 35-man provisional squad to FIFA.Then, just two days after their next friendly against Nigeria on June 2, he will have to whittle it down to 23.The England boss has taken the step to name his squad a little bit early and has explained exactly why."If you name 28 and they aren't sure, but if you name 23 and five on standby - which Sven [Goran Eriksson] did well - then everyone knows where they sit,” Southgate said."For me, it's much better to get the 23 secured and work from there."Those players that were picked in recent friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy will fancy their chances of being on the plane but those that were left out altogether will just have to impress Southgate playing for their club side.And that’s exactly what Jonjo Shelvey is doing.

SHELVEY IS SERIOUSLY IMPRESSING

However, Southgate doesn’t appear to fancy Shelvey despite helping him Newcastle steer well clear of relegation with some superb performances.

But he couldn’t fail to be impressed with his display against Arsenal on Sunday.

Shelvey pulled the strings during the 2-1 victory while a few more pundits and football fans jumped on his bandwagon.

And on Match of the Day 2 with Ian Wright and Martin Keown, they analysed his performance and insisted that he MUST be going to Russia with England.

It’s hard to disagree with them, really.

While his inclusion in the World Cup squad is still very much unclear, Shelvey has admitted he’s desperate to go to Russia.

"I would love to go to the World Cup," Shelvey told Sky Sports.

"It would be such an amazing achievement and every kid's dream is to go to the World Cup and play for your country.

“But there is only so much I can do in terms of on the pitch and off it to get into that squad, and then it is down to the manager to select you."