Jude Bellingham expected to be available for England World Cup qualifiers this month

Jude Bellingham was the key omission from Aidy Boothroyd's U21 Euro Championship squad on Monday; Boothroyd told Sky Sports News there were ''no problems'' with Bellingham and that he expects the 17-year old - and Reece James - to be named in Gareth Southgate's senior squad on Thursday

Image: Jude Bellingham was not selected for Aidy Boothroyd's U21 squad

England are confident Jude Bellingham will be available for this month's World Cup qualifiers - despite travel restriction requirements on players returning to Germany from the UK.

Bellingham was the headline omission from Aidy Boothroyd's U21 Euro Championship squad on Monday.

Boothroyd told Sky Sports News there were ''no problems'' with Bellingham and that he expects the 17-year old - and Reece James - to be named in Gareth Southgate's senior squad on Thursday.

Discussion has centred on Bellingham's eligibility due to Germany's strict Covid-19 travel rules. German-based players would face a quarantine period on arrival back from the UK, unless they receive special dispensation to bypass coronavirus protocols.

It would require Borussia Dortmund to have an exemption in place for current health rules in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the club is based. As it stands, there is confidence that Bellingham will be eligible - if picked - without having to quarantine on his return.

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Image: Jadon Sancho will not be available for Gareth Southgate this month

Dortmund's head of first-team football Sebastian Kehl has said the club will reserve the right to not send players on international duty if it is of a disadvantage to them.

Bellingham, who has made 22 starts for Dortmund since his £30m move from Birmingham last summer, made his senior England debut in November during the victory over the Republic of Ireland.

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Bellingham's Dortmund team-mate, Jadon Sancho, is set to miss the matches against San Marino, Albania and Poland, with the forward likely to be out until April with injury.

Southgate's forward options are likely to be further hampered with both Southampton's Danny Ings and Chelsea's Tammy Abraham almost certainly ruled out with injuries.

Scotland will face a severely weakened Austria squad after they were forced to omit German-based players. The Austrian FA has written to the clubs to plead with them to obtain special permits from their regional authorities for their players to be exempt from the quarantine requirement.

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