Gareth Southgate Names Last England Squad Before World Cup for Netherlands & Italy March Friendlies
England manager Gareth Southgate has named his squad for the upcoming international friendlies that the Three Lions will play later this month against Netherlands in Amsterdam and Italy at Wembley on 23rd and 27th March respectively.
These are the last two games that England will play before Southgate has to name his provisional World Cup squad in May and so it is crucial for every player to perform.
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Injury has kept Harry Kane out of action for his country again, with the Tottenham talisman having been forced to withdraw from the last squad in November. But there are returns for Dele Alli, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere.
Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke, who are both back in the Under-21 squad, miss out after being involved with the seniors during the last international break.
Burnley pair James Tarkowski and Nick Pope are in the squad for the first time, as is Swansea defender Alfie Mawson. Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook has kept his place, but there is no room for experienced centre-back Gary Cahill or £25m Everton man Michael Keane.
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Full 27-man England Squad for Friendlies vs Netherlands & Italy:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Joe Hart (West Ham; loan from Man City), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Alfie Mawson (Swansea), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Man City), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ashley Young (Man Utd)
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Liverpool), Jake Livermore (West Brom), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
Forwards: Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
England will kick off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on 18th June in the city of Volgograd, before further group stage clashes with first-time qualifiers Panama and European rivals Belgium in the days that follow.
Prior to heading to Russia, Southgate and his team will face two last warm-up friendlies against Nigeria at Wembley and Costa Rica in Leeds at the start of June.
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The deadline for the provisional 30-man World Cup squad submitted to FIFA is 14th May. The final list of 23 players must then be submitted no later than 4th June, in between England's Nigeria (2nd) and Costa Rica (7th) games.
It remains to be seen at which point Southgate will make the necessary cuts.
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