Kalvin Phillips withdraws from England squad through injury and is replaced by James Ward-Prowse; Gareth Southgate also called up Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell after Reece James pulled out of the squad on Monday; England play Andorra and Hungary in World Cup Qualifiers this month
Wednesday 6 October 2021 06:02, UK
James Ward-Prowse has replaced Kalvin Phillips in the England squad for this month's World Cup Qualifiers after the Leeds midfielder withdrew through injury.
Phillips was assessed by medical staff after Leeds' win over Watford at the weekend and has been deemed unfit.
Ward-Prowse - who scored and was sent-off in Southampton's 3-1 loss at Chelsea on Saturday - is already at St George's Park with his England team-mates.
Gareth Southgate's side play Andorra away on Saturday before hosting Hungary at Wembley on Tuesday, October 12.
Phillips was a key player for England on their run to the Euro 2020 final this summer, playing in all seven matches and forming a solid partnership with Declan Rice in midfield.
Ward-Prowse was part of England's provisional squad ahead of Euro 2020 - and played in both warm-up friendlies against Austria and Romania - but was cut from the roster ahead of the tournament.
He joins Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell in being late additions to the England squad.
Abraham and Chilwell were called up on Monday - four days after Southgate named his original squad - after Reece James withdrew with an ankle injury.
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel described James' call up as a "misunderstanding" and joked he thought the defender was included in the England water polo team because he was training in the swimming pool as he recovered from injury.
England are four points clear of second-placed Albania in World Cup qualifying group I with four matches still to play.
They round off their qualifying campaign with games at home to Albania and away to San Marino next month.
Sky Sports' Ron Walker:
"Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper chimed 'the Englishman's statistics are stellar' after Abraham's contribution to Roma's 2-0 win over Empoli on Sunday finally tipped the balance in favour of Southgate giving him an England recall.
"The ex-Chelsea man did not score in that game, but he did provide an assist when his effort rebounded off the woodwork for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to slot home. That was the sixth time Abraham has been denied by the goal frame since he joined the club in the summer, in addition to the four goals he has contributed.
"Southgate will be pleased by his goal - and near miss - tally, as well as his contribution further back on the pitch. In addition to his finishing, Abraham is creating more chances for others than in his two full seasons at Chelsea, and as his heat map shows, he is more involved outside the box.
"There has even been evidence of some vintage Mourinho confidence boosting from a manager very pleased with his new arrival. 'There are some strikers who can be the best on the pitch even without scoring, that's exactly how it went against Empoli for Tammy,' he said ahead of the 24-year-old's England recall.
"Longer term, displacing Harry Kane on the international stage will prove an obvious struggle for Abraham. For now at least, his Italian job is paying dividends."
