Dominic Solanke has been named in Lee Carsley’s latest England squad, seven years after his last call-up, while Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer all return from injury.
Solanke has scored three goals in his last three games for Tottenham Hotspur since joining Spurs from Bournemouth and returns to the international fold for the first time since making an appearance against Brazil in November 2017.
There is no place for James Maddison, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Marcus Rashford or Harry Maguire, while Morgan Rogers will have to wait for his call-up after making an impressive start to the Premier League season for Aston Villa.
But Noni Madueke, Angel Gomes, Rico Lewis and Morgan Gibbs-White have retained their places, and Kyle Walker also returns to the group having missed the wins over Ireland and Finland last month.
Three Lions face Greece at Wembley on Thursday 10 October and Finland away from home on 13 October. Follow the squad announcement, as well as reaction and analysis, below:
Lee Carsley explains absence of breakout Aston Villa star tipped for England squad
Lee Carsley admitted it was a “challenge” to name his latest England but said Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers is close to a senior call-up.
Rogers, 22, has shone for Villa this season and played in the club’s victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The attacking midfielder has also started all six of Villa’s Premier League games this season, scoring once and making two assists.
Rogers had to settle for a place in England’s Under-21s squad last month - a decision his club manager Unai Emery called a “surprise” - and the former Manchester City youth product will have to continue waiting for his chance after Carsley announced his latest squad on Thursday.
Lee Carsley explains absence of breakout Aston Villa star tipped for England squad
Rogers has caught the eye in the Premier League and Champions League this season
Injured Kylian Mbappe left out of France squad for Nations League
France have again called up Michael Olise as they prepare for this month’s Nations League games against Israel and Belgium without Kylian Mbappe, who has been struggling with injury.
The 22-year-old English-born midfielder won his first two caps against Italy and Belgium last month and in the absence of midfielder Antoine Griezmann, who announced his retirement from international football earlier this week, the Bayern Munich player was once more picked by Didier Deschamps on Thursday.
Injured Kylian Mbappe left out of France squad for Nations League
Mbappe has been dealing with a muscular injury and misses out on Didier Deschamps’ squad
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill concerned by Paddy McNair’s lack of action
Michael O’Neill has admitted his concern over Paddy McNair’s lack of game time at West Brom ahead of Northern Ireland’s Nations League fixtures against Belarus and Bulgaria.
McNair’s importance to Northern Ireland has only increased over the past 12 months with the loss of experienced heads including Steven Davis, Jonny Evans, and Stuart Dallas, with the 29-year-old one of only two remaining players, alongside Josh Magennis, who went to Euro 2016.
McNair, who scored in Northern Ireland’s 2-0 win over Luxembourg last month, signed for Major League Soccer expansion club San Diego in the summer and joined West Brom on loan until the new year, but things have not worked out as planned so far at The Hawthorns.
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill concerned by Paddy McNair’s lack of action
The defender’s only appearance for West Brom this season came in the Carabao Cup loss to Fleetwood in August.
Carsley on Eze
Lee Carsley has been explaining away the decisions he’s made over the England squad and addressed why Eberechi Eze, who was selected for September’s matches, misses out this time.
Carsley said: “It’s more of a chance for me to look at other players. It’s nothing they have done, definitely nothing to do with form.
“It’s just a case of using this period of the next two camps to experiment a little bit and look at other players. The players that have been left out have all got a case to be in the squad but I thought it was important that, we’ve seen the benefit of the last squad being fresh and it feeling fresh, having a lot of energy in it - not that those players didn’t bring that - but I thought it was important it wasn’t just a cope and paste.
“I want the to feel like they’ve earned their place in the squad. I’ve spoken to all the players that aren’t involved and have had good conversations with them. People want to know where they stand long term and I’ve made it clear that this is a short-term decision by myself.”
Carsley on selecting Solanke
Here’s the interim England boss on why he decided to recall Tottenham forward Dominic Solanke:
Carsley on reaction from England fans:
“It’s been really positive. People seem to be very complimentary about the team, but I understand it’s early days. The difference is, everyone’s got an opinion on the England team. People are desperate for the team to win and do well.”
‘Lots of players close to squad'
Lee Carsley says that there were a lot of players close to making the England squad including Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers who has had a fine start to the season.
The interim boss said: “There’s a lot of players that were close to being in this squad. The talent that we’ve got available for us, it would have been quite easy to name a 40-man squad and justify having them all in.
“The challenge is making sure that we pick a competitive squad that can win the two games.”
Solanke ‘delighted’ with England call-up
Dominic Solanke has posted about his England call-up on Instagram saying he is ‘delighted’ about returning to the national side set up.
Is Cole Palmer’s form a surprise?
That was a question posed to the interim England boss who said that Palmer has risen to every challenge put in front of him and is now earning his rewards.
Carsley said: “No, not really. Knowing Cole for a number of years, I’ve seen how he’s progressed. Every challenge that’s been put in front of Cole, he just takes in his stride.
“He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low, and that’s a brilliant attribute to have as a professional footballer. It’s great to see him doing so well.”
Carsley backs Kane
After Harry Kane received criticism from the German media for his performance against Aston Villa last night, Lee Carsley defended the England captain and his record in ‘big games’.
“I watched the match [Villa beating Bayern] last night and it was a brilliant game, really high tempo.” he siad, “Harry Kane is important to us and he will always score goals.
“Centre-forwards are an easy target for some, as you expect them to deliver, but there are 10 other players and he needs support and to have chances created for him and I think he is outstanding.
”He was outstanding in our last camp and is in a good place.”
