Marcus Rashford has withdrawn from the England squad to face Italy and Ukraine, while Nick Pope and Mason Mount will also not link up with the Three Lions.
Rashford was taken off seven minutes from time in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Old Trafford, with the FA confirming on Monday he will sit out the international double header after picking up a knock.
Chelsea manager Graham Potter had already confirmed ahead of Saturday’s draw with Everton, which Mount sat out, that the midfielder would not be fit to leave for international duty despite initially finding himself named in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
“Yes [I was surprised to see him named],” Potter said on Friday. “Probably, as a club we will seek clarity about why he was. He needed a bit of time for his injury to settle down, which pretty much ruled him out of the England thing.
“Whether that means they needed a bit of time to double-check that, I don’t know. But I don’t think there’s anything untoward at all. It’s more sometimes these things can be named but there are still a couple of days where things can be changed. But as far as I was aware, from my selection perspective, he was unavailable for the weekend.”
England’s 23-man squad
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Ben Chilwell, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Maddison, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice
Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney
Nick Pope completed 90 minutes in Newcastle’s win at Nottingham Forest on Friday night but the FA have said an injury suffered during the game has ruled him out of contention.
It has been reported that despite playing the full game at the City Ground, the goalkeeper missed large parts of training last week ahead of the match.
Tottenham’s Fraser Forster, who has stood in as the club’s No 1 in the continued absence of Hugo Lloris in recent weeks, has been called up in Pope’s place. It is his first call-up to the international squad since last March.
England’s upcoming European qualifiers
March 23 – Italy (a), kick-off 7.45pm
March 26 – Ukraine (h), kick-off 5pm
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