England squad: Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham called up by Gareth Southgate
Manchester United pair Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka drop out, along with Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has been handed a first England call-up as team-mate Tammy Abraham also returns to Gareth Southgate‘s squad.
The Three Lions travel to take on the Czech Republic in Prague on October 11 before a trip to face Bulgaria three days later.
Tomori and Abraham were two of three players included this time around who had missed out on the previous squad, with Everton midfielder Fabian Delph also recalled.
Manchester United pair Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka drop out, along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Liverpool.
Tomori, who was born in Canada and represented them at Under-20 level, has established himself in Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side of late and is rewarded with a maiden senior England call-up.
Abraham scored his eighth goal in 10 games in Chelsea’s 2-1 Champions League win over Lille on Wednesday night and is back in the squad having made his debut almost two years ago.
He featured in friendly matches against Germany and Brazil in November 2017 and remains eligible for Nigeria unless he picks up a competitive cap in the forthcoming games.
Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker is again a high-profile absentee, with Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold preferred.
Asked if it was an easy decision to include Abraham, Southgate said: “It was – he’s the leading English scorer in the league.
“He’s a player that came into the squad very young, at a time when we wanted to have a look at players ahead of the World Cup.
“That was a bit early for him but now with the opportunity he’s been given by Frank, along with other English players at Chelsea, it’s a great chance for Tammy.
“He’s always scored goals with our junior teams, with the Chelsea youth teams, on loan in the Championship and now he’s really grasped this opportunity at the beginning of the season.”
Abraham remains eligible for Nigeria until he makes a competitive appearance for the Three Lions, but Southgate denied the dual-nationality issue influenced his inclusion or that of Tomori
“I haven’t discussed that with him, I’ve left it to Frank to have the conversation,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s ethically right to select someone just to make sure he can’t play for somebody else – Fik and Tammy are in on merit.
“They’ve both been part of our youth system, Fik came in a bit later but he was part of the team that won the (Under-17) World Cup – as far as we’re concerned they’re English players.”
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments