Kyle Walker takes blame for red card as Man City defender fears it could end his England career

Walker is stuck on 49 international caps and his sending off against Iceland has left him fearing he will never get the chance to bring up his 50th appearance

An emotional Kyle Walker took the blame for letting his England teammates down in getting himself sent off during the narrow 1-0 victory over Iceland, with the Manchester City defender fearing he could end up stranded on 49 caps if he falls out of Gareth Southgate’s plans.

Walker was shown a second yellow card in the 70th minute of Saturday’s Nations League encounter, though Southgate’s side were able to battle their way to victory as Raheem Sterling converted a penalty in the 91st minute.

England did a stroke of luck after substitute Joe Gomez conceded a penalty in time added on, but Birkir Bjarnason blazed his effort over the crossbar to cost his side the chance to share the points.

The City right-back was quick to accept the blame for his potentially-costly error, but having not played for the national team since last summer, Walker expressed a concern that the presence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier in the squad could throw his international future into jeopardy.

"To get sent off for your country is never a nice moment especially after being out of the team for so long and being on 49 caps,” Walker said, having put himself forward to speak to Sky Sports after the match.

"I have to take the full blame. To make a rash challenge like that is not acceptable. I don't blame the pressure, I am a seasoned professional and I should know how to manage a game.

"You have to say fair play to the lads for digging in and fighting and getting the win.

"Hopefully I will be back. I have to talk to the boss and see what he wants to do. I am more than happy to say I want to be around the team. I have missed it."

Southgate did not cut a sympathetic tone when discussing the 30-year-old, and admitted that he was not impressed with Walker’s actions as it came as the first red card of his reign as England manager.

Kyle Walker was sent off during England's 1-0 victory over Iceland (Getty)

"We all have to learn from that incident in the game because we have gone out of tournaments before when we have been down to 10 men,” Southgate said.

"That is not the situation I have had in the time I have been in charge so the response to it from the rest of the team was good. It put us in a really difficult situation. I liked the character to respond to the setbacks that we had.

"The obvious lessons are the red card, you can't make challenges like that. Kyle has spoken about it and held his hands up in the dressing room but being down to 10 men makes life so difficult to win matches.

"To win with 10 was commendable for the attitude of the players and coping with that situation."

Southgate will be unable to call on Walker for England’s next match against Denmark on Tuesday, with Alexander-Arnold likely to return to the starting line-up in his place.