Ivan Toney reacts to World Cup snub after Man City triumph

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Ivan Toney reacts to World Cup snub after Man City triumph

Ivan Toney has confessed he's disappointed not to be going to the World Cup with England, but insists it won't affect his performances at club level.

Toney, who has 10 goals in 14 Premier League matches this season, looked to be in with a good chance of being on the plane to Qatar after being in the England squad for the September matches as well as the provisional World Cup selection.

However, Gareth Southgate ultimately opted to leave him at home, taking Newcastle's Callum Wilson instead of the Brentford striker.

In response to his surprise omission, which Brentford boss Thomas Frank admitted he could not understand, Toney netted twice as the Bees saw off Manchester City on Saturday to move into third on the Premier League scoring charts, behind only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.

“It’s disappointing but, listen, I know what I’m capable of and I won’t let it put me down. I just keep going and keep doing well for Brentford," he said.

Man City boss Pep Guardiola applauded the striker's performance afterwards, admitting his team weren't able to handle him.

“The better team won – Toney’s exceptional for them,” he said.

“We had a lot of problems. We could not make a high press because they did not allow us – long balls from the keeper to the striker and in this process we could not win any balls because when Toney flicks the ball on he creates problems.

“He’s very good, he’s able to win [duels] with all the central defenders, we were not able to control this aspect. Every time a centre-back jumped they suffer.”