Conor Gallagher consoled 'stressed out' England team-mate Marc Guehi after Euros blow

Conor Gallagher has revealed how he has been trying to console Marc Guehi after the Crystal Palace defender was suspended for England’s quarter-final showdown with Switzerland.

And Gallagher - who played with Guehi during his time on loan at Selhurst Park - told the centre-half he will be back for a Euro 2024 semi-final.

“I was speaking to him a couple of hours ago,” Gallagher told talkSport. “He was saying he’s so gutted he’s missing this game. He said it’s really stressing him out. I was like … ‘really? You’ve done so well so far and you’ll be back in when we go through’.

“It just stresses him out. He’s been fantastic so far in this tournament and it doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve always said how good he is and he’ll get even better. I’m really happy he’s been given this opportunity on the biggest stage and he’s definitely taken it so far.”

Gallagher has had his setback at this tournament - he was hooked after one half of the goalless draw against Slovenia in the final game of Group C. But the 24-year-old Chelsea midfielder has taken the blow on his chin, saying: “Obviously it’s not nice. You want to play as much as possible and to get an opportunity to start a game for England at a major tournament is incredible. I was really excited. But it was a really difficult game.

“What is great about the manager is that he came and told me before, before he told the team, so I knew and it was fine. Obviously, you want to play as much as possible but I completely understand.”

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Southgate called on Gallagher as England defended a slender lead in the second half of extra-time against Slovakia in Cologne last Sunday. And Gallagher won widespread praise for his contribution to the defensive effort.

He went on: “I was just running, really! Not much else. He brought me and Ezri (Konsa) on to bring that bit of stability and control, to try and see out the game. Obviously, I was really happy to come on and do my best to see out the game. Thankfully we did.”

But Gallagher admitted that most people in the England camp thought their Euro 2024 was over before Jude Bellingham intervened. He said: “It was incredible. I think, at that point, almost everyone had lost a bit of hope and thought we were actually going home. Everyone was gutted.

“But I’m not just saying this but I actually still had a little feeling when I was watching the game that we’d have one more chance. And what an incredible goal from Jude. It’ll go down in history. And then going on to win the game was amazing.

“It’s really important in tournament football to have that resilience and we have shown a lot so far. We’ll have to carry that on to go all the way.”

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