Aidy Boothroyd has named his first England Under-21s squad since he was appointed head coach last month.
The Young Lions face back-to-back away internationals against Germany (on Friday 24 March) and Denmark (Monday 27 March) as preparations continue for this summer’s European Championship finals.
Southampton defender Sam McQueen and Huddersfield’s Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown have been handed maiden U21s call-ups, while Joe Gomez, Solly March and Cauley Woodrow all return to the fold.
Boothroyd said: “Izzy did well on loan in Holland, he came back and now he’s thriving in the Championship.
“Him and Sam deserve their chance, just like Tammy Abraham deserved his chance when I picked him last year.
“As for Joe, Solly and Cauley, they are three players that have been in the squad before so it will be nice to welcome them back. They all deserve to be here.”
Boothroyd helped England qualify for the Euros when he took over the reins on an interim basis following Gareth Southgate’s ascension to the senior squad last year.
The Young Lions were drawn alongside tournament hosts Poland, Slovakia and holders Sweden, with the Scandinavians up first on 16 June.
And Boothroyd is relishing his first two matches in charge as he fine-tunes his squad for the summer.
He added: “These are two very testing games.
“Although I’ve been in the job on an interim basis, for my first game to be Germany away – they don’t come much more difficult than that.
“But that’s what we want. We want to test ourselves against the best.
“While we want to learn about Germany and Denmark, we also want to learn more about ourselves. That’s the key.
“The focus for us is the European Championship and making sure we’re ready for that first game against Sweden on 16 June.
“Everything and anything leading up to that is preparation. We need to make sure we’re ready for the tournament.”
Squad: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Christian Walton (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rob Holding (Arsenal), Mason Holgate (Everton), Alfie Mawson (Swansea City), Sam McQueen (Southampton), Jack Stephens (Southampton), Lewis Baker (Vitesse Arnhem – on loan from Chelsea), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), John Swift (Reading), Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur), Tammy Abraham (Bristol City – on loan from Chelsea), Isaiah Brown (Huddersfield Town – on loan from Chelsea), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion), Cauley Woodrow (Burton Albion – on loan from Fulham).
