Gareth Southgate has been encouraged by the emergence of more young English players at Chelsea this season, having added two more of the Blues’ youngsters to his squad.
Both Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have been called into the Three Lions squad for October’s games with Czech Republic and Bulgaria, after breaking into the Chelsea team under Frank Lampard this term.
And with Mason Mount and Ross Barkley already in the squad from last month’s wins over Bulgaria and Kosovo and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming back to fitness, Southgate admits the two latest additions have earned their spot.
“I think what’s been great for us in terms of England is to see Frank [Lampard] as a coach getting an opportunity at a big club and he’s playing a lot of young English players,” explained Southgate.
“Both of these guys have been in our development teams for a long time, Fik was in our U20s when they won the World Cup and has played very well, so we think it’s a good time to have a closer look at him and work with him.
“Tammy is the leading English goalscorer in the league so it doesn’t take too much to see why he would be in the frame with us.
“He’s always scored goals at every age level with our teams and it’s great to see him getting a run in the first team at Chelsea.”
Aside from that, the group for this month’s Euro Qualifiers remains relatively stable from the games in September with the addition of fit-again Fabian Delph and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missing out.
“There’s a fair bit of continuity from last month, when we were very pleased with all the players,” he added.
“Most of them are fit and healthy and playing well for their clubs so we didn’t see the need to change too much really.
“In terms of the changes we have made, I think Alex is still getting into his season after coming back from a long injury.
TICKETS: ENGLAND V MONTENEGRO“We involved him last time really just to let him know he’s still on our radar, but I think as the season progresses I’m expecting him to challenge a lot more seriously for a starting place.
“And then Jesse has had a difficult period with his club and I think in those areas of the pitch we’ve got players who are scoring more regularly at the moment and in very good form.”
Southgate's squad will meet at St. George's Park on Monday to begin their preparations for the trip.
Our clash with Montenegro on Thursday 14 November is the final qualifier at Wembley and is also England’s 1000th international game. Tickets are on sale at a variety of price points so make sure you’re there for a truly historic night!
