England boss Gareth Southgate has handed first call-ups to West Ham's Jarrod Bowen and Leicester's James Justin for June's Nations League fixtures in a 27-strong squad.
Bowen's call-up was expected after a stand-out campaign in which he has netted 18 goals for the Hammers and he would likely have been included in Southgate's squad for friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast in March if not for injury.
Left-back Justin's inclusion is more of a surprise although the former England under-21 international has been a steadying influence on Leicester's defence in the second half of the season after missing the first half of the campaign through injury.
On Bowen’s inclusion, Southgate said: “Constantly strong performances. We were certainly thinking about involving him in March before he got injured.
“He’s a goal threat and his direct journey is an interesting reminder you don’t have to be at an elite academy – experience is a great route to go. He works incredibly hard for the team, which we want all our players to do. He thoroughly deserves his call-up.”
Southgate said Justin had impressed him since recovering from a serious knee injury last season.
“He’s a player that we’ve followed for a long time and he obviously had a very serious injury and has now, we feel, played the number of matches and been able to play more regularly,” Southgate said.
“He’s comfortable playing left or right-back and very comfortable with the ball, a super athlete, a very good person – so we’re really looking forward to working with him more closely.”
England begin their Nations League campaign with trips to Hungary and Germany on June 4 and June 7 respectively before hosting Italy and Hungary on June 11 and June 14 at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux ground.
The game against Italy will be played behind closed doors as part of the punishment handed out by Uefa for trouble involving England supporters at last year's Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium.
Confirming your #ThreeLions squad for our upcoming #NationsLeague fixtures! 🦁
— England (@England) May 24, 2022
Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have again been omitted from Southgate's squad, as they were for March's friendlies, after injury and illness forced both to miss the final few weeks of the Red Devils' underwhelming season.
Former Chelsea pair Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have both earned recalls after sparkling seasons in Serie A - Abraham hit 17 goals in his first season with Roma while Tomori helped AC Milan to a first domestic title in 11 years.
Southgate added: “Firstly, huge credit to both the boys for going and adapting to living abroad, playing a different style of football, endeavouring to learn another language and fit in culturally with the group. That deserves huge credit.
“Fik in particular comes with the confidence of just winning a (Serie A) title, he’s playing at AC Milan in front of 70-80,000 people every week, that’s similar sort of pressure to what he’s going to have in an England shirt, so it’s a really good bridge.”
Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi retains his place in the squad after making his debut against Switzerland two months ago while Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips is back after injury but Tyrone Mings, Jordan Henderson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ollie Watkins are among those missing out.
There is also no place for James Maddison, who enjoyed a fantastic end to the season with Leicester City, prompting his club manager Brendan Rodgers to tout him for a recall, having not featured since making his England debut in 2019.
The Nations League fixtures mark Southgate's penultimate squad selection before the winter World Cup.
England squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), James Justin (Leicester), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace, on loan from Chelsea), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Man City)
