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Mr Nice Guy is ready to play a hard game... Gareth Southgate prepared to be 'completely ruthless' to help England succeed in Qatar as the deadline to name his final squad looms

Andy Woodman, Gareth Southgate’s best man at his wedding and former Crystal Palace team-mate, sums it up best. ‘Gareth’s always been too nice or his own good,’ surmised Woodman. ‘I’ve told him on many occasions: “There are times, mate, when you have to be a bastard. Situations when it pays to be cynical.” Might as well have been talking to a wall.’

However, that was in 2003, when the pair of them wrote a joint book detailing their footballing friendship. A lot of football has been played since then, a lot of life lived.