Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker in disagreement over controversial Ollie Watkins decision

There was an uproar among Villa supporters when Watkins was ignored by interim England manager Lee Carsley for the shock 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley Stadium last Thursday.

Carsley raised eyebrows when the team selection was announced as Jude Bellingham was named as a false nine, meaning England had no recognised centre-forward in their starting XI for the first time in history. Carsley had to source a replacement for the injured Harry Kane but he ignored both Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke.

The Three Lions didn’t have the same issue on Sunday as Kane returned to the XI for the 3-1 victory away at Finland, but that hasn’t stopped Lineker and Shearer from sharing their contrasting opinions on Watkins’ snub against Greece.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “If he [Carsley] was in the role permanently, you would go ‘Well, that’s alright’. Because, let’s be realistic, it’s a friendly, it’s a glorified friendly, it’s not a World Cup qualifier.

“I actually admire him to have the balls, the cojones, to actually try something like that when you are trying to get the job. That was brave and bold and I admire that. I’d sooner see that than see us sitting deep like we did in the summer against teams not as good as Greece, just sitting there and trying to get a counter-attack.

“Overall, I thought the individual performances were not great and that might come from the fact they were in a formation which was so relaxed and open. I admired the bravery for that but sadly it hasn’t worked,” Lineker continued.

Shearer then disagreed, adding: “You would be absolutely raging if you were Ollie Watkins, wouldn’t you? Your main centre-forward is injured and you’ve been crying out for an opportunity.

“When you’ve come on, you’ve actually done alright, in terms of Watkins and he’s doing well at club level. Yet, when Kane is out, the manager comes to you and says, ‘Well, I’m not going to play you tonight at home against Greece, I’m going to try something different’. He’s got every right to be raging and he should be knocking on his door.”