Warren Gatland offers to have talk with Mike Brown after his Lions omission

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has offered to have a talk with England international Mike Brown after the fullback vented his frustration on missing out on the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

The 41-man squad named by Gatland for the 10-game tour originally had 16 England players in it which has now gone down to 15 with Ben Youngs pulling out but notable omissions included Brown, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell.

Harlequins star Brown expressed disappointment on the way the selection was carried about and further added that he had received no feedback on selection or guidance on the Lions' standby list.

Brown told the Rugby Paper: "It's really disappointing for guys like myself, James Haskell and Dylan Hartley because we probably won't get another opportunity.

"I've had no feedback about being on standby either, which is also disappointing, so I'm not going to keep up false hopes.

"Instead I'll reset my goals and concentrate fully on England and the excitement of going on a tough Argentina tour."

However, Gatland responded back saying he had asked his assistant and Harlequins forward coach Graham Rowntree to explain the situation to Brown and further added that he is open to have a word with the former England Saxons player, if he needs more clarification.

"I can understand the frustration and the disappointment," said Gatland of Brown publicly lamenting his Lions exclusion.

"I am more than happy for him to give me a call if he feels he's been hard done by."

Gatland also urged on the missed out players to not lose their hopes and focus on fitness and form as they might be on the lines of making it to the squad depending on any injury to the front-line players.

"If you look at the history of the Lions, six to 10 players get replaced on a tour," said Gatland.

"So there's six to 10 players out there who are probably going to be called in at some stage on this tour. So be prepared, be ready in case you get that opportunity to come out.

"And that's just on tour. There's the likelihood in the next few weeks that someone will get the call-up as well. There are some pretty big and intense games over the next few weeks."