Watkins and Bowen Earn England Recalls

(Image credit: Andrew Matthews/PA)

Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen have earned recalls to England squad for games against Australia and Italy. 

Watkins has been recalled for the first time since March 2022 following his impressive form for Aston Villa in the past month, which included a hat-trick in a 6-1 home win over Brighton in the Premier League.

Watkins’ return also comes as Callum Wilson dropped out due to a hamstring injury which has prevented him from featuring in Newcastle’s last three matches in all competitions, including their shock 4-1 home win over PSG in Champions League.

Eberechi Eze is also omitted up front with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen recalled to the squad, after he was dropped from England’s World Cup squad selection last November.

In defence, Ben Chilwell is ruled out with a hamstring injury and has been replaced by Manchester City’s John Stones, who has had his own injury issues in recent weeks.

In goal, Southgate has named an unchanged goalkeeping selection with Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale once again called up for selection.

Southgate has also opted to retain his midfield selection with in-form midfielder, James Ward-Prowse left out despite impressing for West Ham in recent weeks.

England will face Australia in a friendly at Wembley Stadium, London, on Friday 13 October before they host Italy at the same venue in a crunch UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday 17 October, with both matches kicking off at 7:45pm BST live on Channel 4 in the UK.

Here is the 26-man squad in full.

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

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

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

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

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