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England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he will not sing the national anthem ahead of the UEFA Nations League game against Republic of Ireland on Saturday.
Carsley, who is taking charge of his first game since replacing Gareth Southgate on a temporary basis, was born in England but represented Ireland 40 times, becoming eligible through his grandmother.
The 50-year old’s admission has prompted a backlash in certain quarters, but Carsley said it has never been an issue for him and facing the country he represented is not a factor.
“This [the anthem] is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland,” Carsley, who also managed England at under-19 and under-21 level, said.
“The gap between your warm-up, your coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it’s something that I have never done.
“I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off.
“I was really focused on the football and I have taken that in to coaching. We had the national anthem with the Under-21s also and I am in a zone at that point.
“I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game. I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.”
Meanwhile, Carsley also said England are not looking for a fresh start and that he is actually looking to build on the platform left to him by Southgate, who reached the final of Euro 2024.
“I definitely don’t see this as a fresh start,” Carsley said. “I spoke about it before in terms of taking over a team as a caretaker manager low on confidence, low down the league and struggling. This is the total opposite to that. This is a team coming off the back of a tournament.
“It’s a difference of opinion whether it was successful or not. I think it was. First of all, qualifying for a major tournament is an achievement and then to get as far as they did and so close and falling short.
“Yeah, I don’t see this as a fresh start. This is a chance to build on what they’ve done in the past.”