Jamie Carragher has five-word England admission after Harry Kane criticism

Former England defender Jamie Carragher was speaking after Harry Kane criticised those who withdrew from the Three Lions squad for the recent Nations League double-header

Jamie Carragher has once again emphasised that England was not his main focus during his football career.

The Sky Sports pundit's remarks come in response to Harry Kane's recent criticism of players who opted out of the national team's recent double-header in the Nations League. The Three Lions skipper made headlines when he expressed his displeasure at the fact that nine players had withdrawn from Lee Carsley's initial 23-man squad.

Although Carragher respects the England captain for voicing his opinion, the ex-Liverpool star maintained, as he has always done, that "England wasn’t the number one" for him. Despite participating in England's victories over Greece and the Republic of Ireland, Kane was dissatisfied with those who pulled out of the national team.

Speaking to ITV, he stated: "I think England comes before anything. It comes before club and it is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer. It's a shame this week obviously.

"Yeah, I think it's a tough period of the season and maybe that's been taken advantage of a little bit. I don't really like it if I'm totally honest. I think as I just said there England comes before before anything, any club situation."

Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, Chelsea duo Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer, Manchester City pair Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, Southampton keeper Aaron Ramsdale and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite all withdrew. As did Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal.

Carragher has thrown his support behind Kane's candid remarks, admitting he was taken aback by the Bayern Munich striker's forthrightness. Speaking on the It's Called Soccer podcast, Carragher expressed his respect for Kane's willingness to stir the pot, as per the Liverpool Echo.

"I actually admired the fact that he said it, because it's not something I normally associate with Harry Kane, saying something that maybe creates headlines or is a bit confrontational to other people so I actually admired it in some ways," Carragher said.

"I do actually think he's right in that some of those players did miss this trip, and could have made it, I do believe that and I said this to Gary [Neville], a week or so ago, that, we always expect this in March, when the title's up for grabs, maybe someone is in the semi final or quarter final of the Champions League - you expect that and I think we all know that, but at this stage of the season.

"I do think that the fact it wasn't Thomas Tuchel in charge, it was Lee Carsley and it was Nations League games, I think clubs have put pressure on players to miss out on the games so I actually think he's right in what he's saying."

Reflecting on his own career, Carragher acknowledged that playing for England didn't hold the same allure for him as it did for others, particularly those from the south. He added: "For me, England wasn't the number one, for me as a player that wasn't, for someone like Harry Kane, I always feel players who live down south or from London, England always felt like the ultimate, so for him I get it, for me it wasn't."

This isn't the initial instance of Carragher standing firm on the idea that club loyalty trumps national allegiance. Recounting his sentiments from his 2008 autobiography, he noted: "I wasn't uncaring or indifferent. I simply didn't put England's fortunes at the top of my priority list."

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