Gareth Southgate Announces His Latest England Squad With Raheem Sterling And James Ward-Prowse Missing Out

Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins have been recalled to the England squad by Gareth Southgate for upcoming fixtures against Australia and Italy.

Watkins’ last appearance in the England squad was back in August 2022 and West Ham’s Bowen is recalled after missing September’s games.

Manchester City defender John Stones returns after missing out through injury last time, however, it is the same old story when it comes to the loyalty of Southgate.

Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips retain their places in the squad whilst Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah also keep their places.

Watkins has been in good form for Aston Villa this season, scoring seven and assisting three, and recently netted a hat-trick against Brighton & Hove Albion, something Southgate has acknowledged.

“Ollie [Watkins] has definitely improved under [Villa manager] Unai Emery. Ollie got a timely hat-trick at the weekend. But it’s not just because of that – because you have to be very careful on picking players on one or two performances – but we have worked with him before and we really like him.”

Jarrod Bowen has also been in good form from the wing, scoring five goals in seven games, and could feature against Australia.

The lack of fit left-backs means Colwill acts as cover for the position and both the Chelsea defender and Nketiah will hope for their first England caps.

Bukayo Saka is also called up despite becoming injured in Arsenal’s game against Lens in midweek and joins teammate Aaron Ramsdale in the squad, despite the latter becoming second-choice to David Raya in recent matches. Marcus Rashford is included despite being in poor form.

Maguire has only started one club game against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup but keeps his place. Midfielder Henderson is called up despite moving to Al-Ettifaq in the summer, with Southgate saying he is a “senior player who is very important to us”.

Raheem Sterling again misses out whilst James Ward-Prowse is overlooked again despite his good start to the season and Mason Mount is excluded as Manchester United have continued to struggle.

Nick Pope also fails to make it into the squad as Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace is preferred ahead of the Newcastle shot-stopper.

The likes of Callum Wilson, Ben Chilwell and Eberechi Eze miss out through injury.

England Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayi Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

For more football stories from our many brilliant writers – follow DubSports on X and Instagram. Check out this article about Newcastle United’s incredible win over PSG.

You can also follow me on X and DM me your story ideas!