Gareth Southgate is planning to watch Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes on Friday as he steps up his planning for Euro 2020.

Southgate will travel to Molineux on Friday to see Barnes in action against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a game in which James Maddison is also scheduled to play.

Barnes has been in impressive form for Leicester and is one of the players, along with Jack Grealish and Danny Ings, who Southgate is considering looking at in next month’s friendlies against Italy and Denmark.

Injuries to Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford have forced Southgate to consider his options and what he will do if any of the trio suffer setbacks, or if he is hit by further injury problems.

Ross Barkley is still uncertain of his Chelsea place, while Callum Hudson-Odoi has not yet performed consistently, which could also open up places in midfield and in the wide positions.

Barnes has made four appearances for England under-21s and has scored four goals in his last six Leicester appearances.

Finishing second in Group D could potentially set up an easier last 16 game for England against the runner-up of Group E, which features Spain, Poland and Sweden.

But Southgate wants to win the group, ahead of Croatia and Czech Republic, because he believes it will give England better momentum for the rest of the tournament and could provide a logistically easier path to the semi-finals.

Were England to win Group D, then they would face a last-16 tie in Dublin ahead of potentially travelling to Rome for the quarter-finals. That would allow Southgate’s team to return back to their St George’s Park base in between.