Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford has been rewarded for his fine form on loan at Bolton with a debut call-up to the England Under-21 squad.
Trafford is one of three City players in Lee Carsley's latest squad, along with one Manchester United player, but there is a notably omission of City forward Cole Palmer. The Young Lions face four UEFA U21 Championship qualifiers in June against Czech Republic, Albania, Kosovo and Slovenia, with Carsley naming a strong squad featuring a number of Premier League youngsters.
Trafford, 19, has been capped up to under-20 level, and joined Bolton on loan in January. He made 22 appearances, keeping seven clean sheets and earning plenty of positive reviews from Wanderers fans and pundits alike. Now, he joins regular U21 goalkeeper Joe Bursik, and Brighton's on-loan stopper Carl Rushworth in the squad.
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City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Stoke int he Championship, gets another call-up after captaining the U21s in the last international break. Other defenders called up include Leicester's Luke Thomas, West Ham full-back Ben Johnson, and Max Aarons of Norwich.
Another City loanee, Tommy Doyle, gets picked again after some good form on loan at Cardiff following his disappointing time at Hamburg. United's James Garner will battle Doyle for a midfield spot after he plays in the Championship play-off final with Nottingham Forest.
Aston Villa starlet Jacob Ramsey and Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot are also in the group, as are Arsenal's Emile Smith-Rowe and former United forward Angel Gomes.
However, there is no room for Cole Palmer, who returned from injury towards the end of the season to help City's under-23s to the Premier League 2 title and support the first team squad in their successful bid to win the Premier League title. Palmer has two goals in four U21 appearances, but missed the March squad through injury.
England U21 squad: Bursik (Stoke), Trafford (Man City) , Rushworth (Brighton); Aarons (Norwich), Cresswell (Leeds), Harwood-Bellis (Man City) , Colwill (Chelsea), Hill (Bournemouth), Thomas (Leicester), Johnson (West Ham), Spence (Middlesbrough); Sessegnon (Spurs), Doyle (Man City) , Garner (Man Utd ), Gibbs-White (Wolves), Ramsey (Aston Villa), Jones (Liverpool), Elliott (Liverpool); Balogun (Arsenal), Gordon (Everton), Gomes (Lille), Lewis-Potter (Hull), Smith-Rowe (Arsenal), Archer (Aston Villa).
