Marcus Rashford, Glen Johnson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all named in interim England manager Gareth Southgate’s squad for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.
England face Malta at Wembley Stadium on Saturday before a trip to Ljubljana, to face Slovenia on Tuesday, October 11.
Rashford returns to the senior squad after doing duty for the U21s last month against Norway.
‘We’d had the discussion already, a couple of weeks ago, around what we thought we thought was best [for Marcus] at this moment in time and I felt it was important to stick to that rationale,’ said Southgate.
‘I still think that we would hope that Marcus would go to the under-21 championships next summer because it would be great for his development – there’s obviously a long way to go until then but that, we feel, would be a good experience for him.
‘At this moment in time, we’re looking at these two games and he’s in good form. He’s scoring again for Manchester United and was outstanding in the under-21 game against Norway, so it’s good for him to be involved back with the seniors.’
Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne picked up injuries while playing for Liverpool this weekend and have not been selected.
England squad:
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino, loan from Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Stoke City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Michail Antonio (West Ham United), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Photo: England FA website
