Bukayo Saka named in England squad despite injury fears over Arsenal star

Bukayo Saka has been named in the England squad ahead of the upcoming fixtures against Australia and Italy.

The Arsenal winger limped out of Tuesday’s Champions League defeat against Lens and is a major doubt for Sunday’s summit meeting with Manchester City.

Saka, whose record of having started 87 consecutive Premier League games is under threat, is nursing a hamstring strain and is likely to face a late fitness test.

The 22-year-old, who was named England’s Player of the Year last month, will be given every possible opportunity to feature for his country, who are not scheduled to play the Socceroos until October 13.

Elsewhere, Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen have returned to the Three Lions set-up but there is no place for Raheem Sterling once again.

Southgate named a 26-man squad for the October double-header, with uncapped Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah again getting the nod as a pair of in-form forwards made their long-awaited returns.

Watkins has not been called up since March 2022 and returned days after Southgate watched the striker score a hat-trick in Aston Villa’s 6-1 win against Brighton.

England Squad

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

Defenders: 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), 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), 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).

Bowen returns to the England squad for the first time since September 2022 having scored five goals in seven league games for West Ham.

There was no place for team-mate James Ward-Prowse despite his fine start to life in east London.

Sterling was another conspicuous by his absence after Southgate overlooked the 82-cap Chelsea forward for September’s fixtures. Mason Mount is also out despite returning to action with Manchester United.

John Stones returned from injury, while Ben Chilwell, Eberechi Eze and Callum Wilson were ruled out.

Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips retained their place despite ongoing questions over their playing time, while Jordan Henderson also remained after moving to Saudi Arabia.

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