Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for the coming international break.
The first break of the 2017 side of the campaign comes later this month and sees England face of against Germany in an away friendly on March 22 before hosting Lithuania at Wembley on March 26 in a World Cip 2018 qualifier.
Headline selections from Southgate’s choices see a return for 34 year old Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe who last featured against Chile back in November 2013, and uncapped Southampton duo Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse get maiden call ups to the senior squad.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers:
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino, on loan from Man City), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders:
Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Man Utd), Michael Keane (Burnley), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).
Midfielders:
Dele Alli (Tottenham), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), Jake Livermore (West Brom), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Raheem Sterling (Man City), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Strikers:
Jermain Defoe (Sunderland), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).
thefa.com quote Southgate as saying about his selections.
‘You can have the young players who are hungry and the old players who are hungry as well. I think we can’t just look at young players all the time. I think we have to get results now and also plan for the future.’
With Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane missing out following his ankle injury against Millwall in the recent FA Cup clash, Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is also out with injury. Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge also misses out with injury, whilst Arsenal’s Theo Walcott has not been selected.
‘The injury, coupled with the fact he’s not really had a lot of game time recently and others have, has sort of determined my decision on that one. Theo has a really valid claim for being included. I didn’t see him featuring in the games this week and I needed to look at one or two other players that I don’t know too much about.’
