YOUNG LIONS
Maddison, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tomori make youthful England squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers with Montenegro and Kosovo
Sponsored by
JAMES MADDISON, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fikayo Tomori have been named in a youthful England squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers with Montenegro and Kosovo.
Boss Gareth Southgate has released his 27-man squad for the double-header later this month, with Tyrone Mings, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Harry Winks retaining their places.
1
Dele Alli, Kyle Walker and Jesse Lingard have failed to recapture their spots in the Three Lions' squad, while Michael Keane loses his place after a tough international break in October.
Meanwhile, in-form Jack Grealish can count himself unlucky to miss out on a spot in the team and may have been hampered by his calf injury.
On Grealish, Southgate revealed: "He’s a very good player. I’ve watched him closely this season.
"The reality of that is that he’s up against [Raheem] Sterling, [Marcus] Rashford, [Callum] Hudson-Odoi, [Jadon] Sancho in those wide areas. The competition in that area is a really high level.
"I think Jack’s a very good player. He’s very close. He’s just got to keep playing the way he is, and if we had issues over the weekend, I wouldn’t hesitate to call him into the squad."
Explaining the unusually large squad size, Southgate said: "The squad is a little bit larger size than normal.
"There are one or two injury doubts. Hopefully we get through the next few days without any problems."
Southgate went on to say he's recalled Oxlade-Chamberlain as he has "real belief in him", while praising Hudson-Odoi's "dedication and motivation" to come back from injury.
Walker's absence was also purely down to the incredible form of Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold, according to the England boss.
Maddison and Tomori are then only uncapped players in the squad - with both somewhat unfortunate to miss out on their first games for the senior team against Bulgaria and Czech Republic last month.
But the red-hot Leicester star is somewhat fortunate to be named after he was pictured playing poker during his country’s 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic, despite claiming he was ill.
ENGLAND SQUAD (in full)
GOALKEEPERS
Jordan Pickford, Tom Heaton, Nick Pope.
DEFENDERS
Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Joe Gomez, Fikayo Tomori, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Ben Chilwell, Danny Rose.
MIDFIELDERS
Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Declan Rice, Mason Mount, James Maddison, Ross Barkley, Harry Winks.
FORWARDS
Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Callum Wilson, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
Southgate had revealed he would name Maddison in his squad although he faces a lot of competition in the middle of the park.
As well as the returning Oxlade-Chamberlain - whose fine form at Liverpool has been rewarded - John Stones and Callum Hudson-Odoi have been recalled after injury.
England have won five of their six qualifiers - with the Czech Republic loss the only spot on the record - to sit top of the group, three points clear second place.
Gareth Southgate explains why Jack Grealish is not in England squad
Topics