Gareth Southgate backs injured Manchester United duo after Jose Mourinho questions pain threshold

England interim manager Gareth Southgate is satisfied Manchester United’s Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw are genuinely injured despite reservations voiced by their club manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho hit out after Smalling and Shaw missed United’s 3-1 win at Swansea City on Sunday, making a distinction between “the brave” and “the ones for whom a little pain can make a difference”.

But Southgate, who left both players out of his squad for England’s games against Scotland and Spain, said the defenders would not have missed the United game unless they felt unable to play.

“They didn’t play, so there’s a medical issue,” he said. “Chris hasn’t played for the last four games.

“We have really good relationships, medical-to-medical, with all clubs. I’ve got great trust in our medical team that they’ll make the right calls.

“Obviously it’s a difficult one because I don’t know the reason for the comments Jose’s made.”