England Under-19s squad named for Croatia and Bulgaria games

The England Under-19s squad to face a double-header with Croatia and Bulgaria has been named by head coach Keith Downing.

With their first Euro Qualifying round games in Wales taking place in November, these games will act as the final preparation for Downing and his squad.

And he’s selected a 20-man group, who will face a trip to Zagreb first before facing Bulgaria in Wycombe on Monday 10 October.

A number of the squad who faced the Netherlands and Belgium in their season openers earlier in September retain their places, but there are also three new faces in the group.

Fulham defender Ryan Sessegnon is called up after impressing in the Cottagers’ first-team so far this term, along with Tottenham Hotspur forward Marcus Edwards and West Ham goalkeeper Nathan Trott.

"We had two really stern tests last month against Netherlands and Belgium, who both have some very good players," said Downing.

"The games gave me an indication of where the players were in terms of their levels and the standards and it was a good opportunity to have a look at the squad of 22 that we used against two tough nations and we got a lot out of the week.

U19s midfielder Tom Davies celebrates his goal against Netherlands in Telford in September

"I was really pleased with the players and their attitude, they made good progress and they’ve gelled well with a good team spirit.

"We’re trying to get them focused for the Euro Qualifiers in Wales in November, so these lead up games are to get them working together and also to plan some kind of structure for those three difficult qualifiers against Wales, Greece and Luxembourg.

"I can only pick an 18-man squad for the Euro games next month, so there’s still opportunity for everyone to impress against two different kinds of opposition."

The squad will meet up on Sunday before heading out to Croatia for the first game, at the Sveti Josip Radnik Stadium in Zagreb on Friday 7 October.

It’s then back to Buckinghamshire for the game with Bulgaria at Adams Park, where tickets cost just £3 for adults and £1.50 for concessions.

You can click here to purchase tickets or call the Wycombe Wanderers’ ticket office on 01494 441118 for more details.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Will Mannion (Hull City), Aynsley Pears (Middlesbrough), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United), 

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), Jay DaSilva (Chelsea), Cameron Humphreys (Manchester City), Darnell Johnson (Leicester City), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham), Dujon Sterling (Chelsea) Easah Suliman (Cheltenham Town, loan from Aston Villa)      

Midfielders: Tom Davies (Everton), Adetayo Edun (Fulham), Sam Field (West Bromwich Albion)

Forwards: Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (Manchester City), Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur), Andre Green (Aston Villa), Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (Aston Villa), Stepy Mavididi (Arsenal)*, Chris Willock (Arsenal)

*Replaced Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City)
** Replaced Nathan Trott (West Ham United)