New faces in England squad for World Cup qualifiers but no Trent Alexander-Arnold
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Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has named a 26-man squad for this month’s World Cup qualification triple header against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had been widely tipped for a call-up, but Southgate has turned to Watkins, who has impressed since joining Villa from Brentford in the summer.
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Hide AdJohnstone, who has shone for the embattled Baggies this season, gets his maiden call-up following an injury to England number one Jordan Pickford.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is conspicuous by his absence from a squad that sees Luke Shaw, John Stones and Jesse Lingard return after long absences.
Seventeen-year-old Bellingham’s inclusion is interesting given the Football Association had expected regional coronavirus travel restrictions in Germany to rule him out.
Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho misses out through injury, while Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Tammy Abraham are not included having been dealing with issues of their own.
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Hide AdSouthgate said there had been some “close calls” when selecting his squad, including the decision to include Watkins over Bamford.
“(Bamford was) very close,” Southgate said at a press conference.
“There’re a number of positions in this squad that have been really close calls and we felt we wanted an extra striker.
“We’re really pleased with Harry (Kane) and (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin and what they’ve done. Tammy Abraham hasn’t really been involved for Chelsea over the last four to six weeks.
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Hide Ad“And both Ollie and Patrick in particular, their goals record has been good. We like the personalities of both. Ollie is a player we’ve had less interaction with in the past. It’s going to be good to get to know him. We like his pressing, the speed and the runs in behind.”