England boss Gareth Southgate lays down gauntlet to former Northampton Town striker Ivan Toney

Former Cobblers striker Toney has been left out of Southgate's 26-man England squad for the tournament in Qatar, which starts next weekend.

The Northampton-born striker has been in brilliant form for Brentford in the Premier League this season, scoring nine goals in 15 matches, second only to Harry Kane in terms of English-qualified players

Southgate instead opted to pick Newcastle United's Callum Wilson, who has netted six times in 10 appearances for the Magpies.

Being left out will be a huge disappointment for Toney, who was selected in the squad for England's two Nations League matches in September, but bizarrely wasn't given any game time by Southgate.

It all means that Toney is going to have to wait a little bit longer to become the first Northamptonian to play football for England - and Southgate insists the 26-year-old does still have a great chance of a future at the top level.

Asked why it was Wilson who got the nod over Toney for the trip to Qatar, Southgate said: “There were a number of players in that mix.

"At the moment we feel that Callum is in a really good moment, his team are going well and that’s helped and he’s been with us a little bit more before we’ve seen him on the pitch.

“With Ivan, we wanted to find out a little bit more about him last month and he’s done brilliantly to get himself in the frame.

"Now he’s got to use that as a springboard to be available and get involved with England in the future.”

Toney was one of a clutch of players who got a personal phone call from Southgate, who wanted to speak directly to the men who were so close to selection but just missed out, including the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Fikayo Tomori and Tami Abraham.

And when he was asked how Toney responded to the news he will be missing out on his World Cup dream, Southgate said: "He’s a strong character and he’s a really solid guy and he took it very well.

“I found him to be very mature and that’s how he reacted to it.

"I’m sure that the disappointment was there but I have to say he was really professional."

Toney joined Brentford from Peterborough United in the summer of 2020, and immediately helped the Bees win promotion to the Premier League, and has then helped them stay there.

In all, he has scored 55 goals in 100 appearances for the west London club, and his manager Thomas Frank believes Southgate has made a mistake in not selecting his player.

"I said (to Toney) these coaches, they don't always take the best decisions, including myself," said Frank

"No, with a smile on my face, if we look from, all people in the world are biased. So I am biased my way, Gareth is biased his way.

"So I look from this side of the elephant, he looks from the other side of the elephant.

"You can't find a better striker in form in the country after Harry Kane. It's impossible."

And he has also backed Toney, who also qualifies to play for Jamaica, to recover quickly from the setback.

"I don't think there's a player in and around the squad who wouldn't be disappointed with not being selected," said Frank.

"It's about how many hits we can take and move forward.

"Ivan has a strong mentality and he will move forward from this."

Toney began his career at the Cobblers, and made his debut as a 16-year-old in an FA Cup tie at Bradford City in 2012.

At the time he was the youngest ever player to play for the first team, a record that is now held by current youth team player Josh Tomlinson.

In all, Toney made 29 starts and 31 substitute appearances for his home town club, scoring 13 goals, including crucial ones against Dagenham & Redbridge and Oxford United to help Chris Wilder's side avoid relegation in 2014.

He was sold to Newcastle for a fee believed to be in the region of £250,000 in the summer of 2015.

He then played for a series of teams on loan, before being sold to Posh for £650,000 in 2018.

In two years at London Road, he scored 49 goals in 94 appearances, with that form earning him a £5m move to Brentford, with the cost of that deal expected to rise to up to £10m over time.