Jack Wilshere deals with his England World Cup squad snub with humour after Arsenal midfielder left out

Jack Wilshere has dealt with his World Cup snub with a dose of humour after posting a comical Instagram story on social media in the wake of Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave him out of the England squad for Russia 2018.

The Arsenal midfielder was a notable absentee from Southgate’s squad that will head to the World Cup next month as well as the five-man stand-by list, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard selected ahead of him.

Along with Wilshere, goalkeeper Joe Hart was also left out of the squad, with 12 players from Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad dropped by Southgate as he looks to usher in a new era for the national side.

Hart is said to be angry with the former West Ham manager, David Moyes, for costing him his place in the squad by dropping him this season – Moyes left the club on Wednesday the same day as it was announced that Hart had failed to make the squad with Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope selected instead.

But 26-year-old Wilshere has seen the funny side of his omission after posting an image of himself and Hart on his Instagram story, with the Manchester City goalkeeper appearing to berate Wilshere in a swimming pool during a holiday in Las Vegas soon after the 2014 World Cup.

Wilshere wrote on the image: “Don’t listen to them Jack. We’re good players!”

Russia 2018 will be the first major tournament that Wilshere has missed since Euro 2012, which he missed with a serious ankle injury.

Southgate is due to hold a press conference on Thursday morning in which he is likely to be asked for his reasons in leaving Wilshere out of the squad, having not mentioned the midfielder in his statement that was released along with the team announcement.

But Southgate did reference Hart on Wednesday, saying: “With Joe, we’ve got three other goalkeepers who have had very good seasons and the decision I was faced with was do I keep Joe in and have experience around the group? Or give the three guys who have basically had a better season a chance? We felt the players all needed to be in on merit after their performances this season.”