Raheem Sterling left out of England squad as Southgate turns to Nketiah
Raheem Sterling has been left out of the England squad for the games against Ukraine and Scotland, Gareth Southgate instead turning to Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah for one of the forwards slots.
Sterling’s Chelsea teammate Levi Colwill has won his first call-up, although he has trained with the senior squad before, while Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips are also in the squad despite limited playing time for their clubs. Jordan Henderson has kept his place after moving from Liverpool to the Saudi Pro League and Al-Ettifaq.
Southgate said of Nketiah’s first call-up: “It’s an area that we would like to have a look at him. He’s a young player with really good pedigree. He is a very good finisher and it’s good for him to have some time with us. He’s the record scorer with the 21s.”
He added on Colvill: “He’s doing really well, he’s progressing. We really liked him with Brighton. He had a really good tournament with the u21s.”
Ben Chilwell and Fikayo Tomori return to the squad with Luke Shaw and Tyrone Mings out injured but there is still no place for the Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope.
England first face Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine in Poland on Saturday before taking on Scotland at Hampden Park in a 150th Anniversary Heritage match the following Tuesday.
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