Southgate names 26-man England squad with call on Saka and midfielder snub

05 October 2023 , 13:00

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Gareth Southgate has named his squad for the matches against Australia and Italy (Image: Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate has recalled Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen to his 26-man squad for England’s double header with Australia and Italy.

In-form West Ham forward Bowen, 26, has been flying this season and gets his first call after missing out on last year’s World Cup. Aston Villa striker Watkins also gets rewarded after his fine form, including a hat-trick last Saturday in front of Southgate in Villa's 6-1 win over Brighton.

Arsenal ’s Bukayo Saka is in the squad despite limping off against Lens in midweek in the Champions League. But England may want to assess his fitness and Saka remains a doubt for Sunday’s clash with Manchester City.

There is no recall for fit-again Raheem Sterling but Kalvin Phillips and Harry Maguire retain their places despite a lack of minutes.

Jordan Henderson keeps his place after his move to Saudi Arabia while fit-again Manchester City pair John Stones and Jack Grealish are straight back in.

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England face Australia in a friendly at Wembley next Friday, October 13, with the Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy - a repeat of the Euro 2020 final - on October 17. A win against the Italians should be enough to secure the Three Lions' place in Germany next summer.

Saka went off injured in Arsenal's midweek defeat at Lens (Getty Images)

On Saka's inclusion, Southgate said: "He's still being assessed as they've obviously got a big game this weekend and then there's another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy so everybody will monitor everything as we go forward."

On picking Bowen in favour of Sterling, he added: "We spoke before the last squad and we've been happy with the wide players' performances in the last four games in particular and in the two in March. The team are playing really well and clearly there's some stability there.

"We have added Jarrod Bowen in those wide areas, he's scored five in seven games and is playing really well and with the Australia game as well there's the opportunity to learn some different things as well."

England squad:

Goalkeepers : Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Levi Colwill, Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders:Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice

Forwards:Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Eddie Nketiah, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins

John Cross