Gareth Southgate explains why Marcus Rashford has improved since Euro 2020

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Gareth Southgate explains why Marcus Rashford has improved since Euro 2020

Luke Shaw has opened up on the personal loss he suffered shortly before the start of the World Cup.

Shaw has started every match for England in Qatar and has performed well, creating one goal and a number of chances while being solid at the back.

Things could have gone very differently though with Gareth Southgate offering the Manchester United player the chance to take some time away from the squad following the passing of his grandmother on the eve of the tournament.

Shaw appreciated the offer but chose to fully focus on the World Cup for the time being and says that he's able to do so.

"My Nan sadly passed away before [the tournament]," the left-back told The Athletic.

"She had cancer for a long while and unfortunately she passed away just before the first game.

"But of course, Gareth was really good with me, spoke to me and said: 'Is everything ok?’ If I need to have time away just focus on that. But I’m here, this World Cup means so much to me and I didn’t want to miss anything.

"She was a really important part of my childhood, I spent a lot of time with her... she had cancer for a long while and suffered a lot, so it had been a long thing. But I’ve had time to grieve and fully focus on the World Cup."

Shaw isn't the only player in the England camp to have suffered a personal loss recently with Marcus Rashford revealing that one of his friends passed away this week.