Gareth Southgate has selected a 23-man squad for England’s September fixtures.
The Three Lions open their UEFA Nations League campaign by taking on Spain at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Saturday 8 September, before hosting Switzerland in Leicester three days later for a Kick It Out international.
Southgate has retained the bulk of the squad that finished fourth at this summer’s 2018 FIFA World Cup, with 18 of the 23 keeping their places.
Joe Gomez, who missed the tournament through injury, returns to the fold – as do Adam Lallana and James Tarkowski, who were both on standby ahead of the squad’s departure for Russia.
Luke Shaw’s strong start to the season for Manchester United sees him selected for the first time since March 2017.
Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy – who has been called up twice before but never capped – replaces the injured Nick Pope. Phil Jones is also ruled out due to injury.
Explaining his selections, Southgate said: “We’re obviously coming off the back of a successful summer, so I think there’s a good foundation for us to build on.
“With us only being three games into the season, I felt some continuity was important so those who were with us in the summer deserve the right to go again. Others haven’t really had the opportunity to force themselves ahead of those guys.
“From here we have a two-year lead into the European Championships, so I want us to try and capture what we had this summer and why they felt it went well – but, once we’re through this camp, there’s going to be competition from others. People are going to have to play at a good level to retain their places.”
Southgate also spoke of the conversations that led to Ashley Young, Gary Cahill and Jamie Vardy being left out of the squad.
“I’ve had discussions with them around their involvement and what we’d be looking to do in the next few months in particular,” explained the manager.
“Those guys are older and – in a couple of their cases – aren’t playing much with us. I recognise that, when you’re travelling with England and not playing for a fair bit of time, that’s a different sort of role. I did that myself for a few years.
“There’s a point where I don’t need to know what those guys can do as we’re looking to bring younger players through. It was great that we were able to have mature conversations about that.
“They all want to stay available and have all done a fantastic job with us. The door’s certainly not closed.”
The Three Lions squad will report to St. George’s Park on Monday 3 September.
Tickets for both of England’s September fixtures are still available – but selling quickly.
Click here to secure your place to next Saturday’s visit of Spain, and click here for our trip to Leicester City on Tuesday 11 September.
To get ticket priority in future, for example to the USA game in November, why not join the England Supporters Club? It’s free to join and you’ll receive other great offers over the year.
England squad:
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Dele (Tottenham Hotspur), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Alex McCarthy (Southampton), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).
