Reece James Replaces Injured Raheem Sterling in England Squad

Chelsea right-back Reece James has received his maiden call up to the England senior squad ahead of the Three Lions' fixtures against Wales, Belgium and Denmark.

The defender has been capped twice at Under-21 level and had originally been selected for Aidy Boothroyd's side, before being bumped up to the senior team.

James has started three out of Chelsea's four Premier League games this season, scoring a stunning solo goal during the Blues' opening day victory over Brighton.

News of the 20-year-old's call up was announced on the FA website, and the governing body confirmed that James will not immediately be joined at St George's Park by Chelsea teammates Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell and Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho, after the trio broke the COVID-19 'rule of six' regulation to attend a 20-person gathering for Abraham's birthday.

The arrival of Abraham, Chilwell and Sancho will be delayed in order to "allow time to gather further information of a social gathering that all three players reportedly attended over the weekend."

Ahead of the squad's meet up, Southgate confirmed he would be issuing a reminder to his players regarding how England operate following Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden's coronavirus rule breach in Iceland. The Manchester City and Manchester United youngsters have not been selected for England's upcoming fixtures.

England will also be without Raheem Sterling, who was originally named in Southgate's squad, but has since been ruled out of all three matches with injury.

The Three Lions face Wales in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday, before Nations League fixtures against Belgium on Sunday 11 October and Denmark the following Wednesday.

England got their Nations League campaign off to a disappointing start after a laboured 1-0 win over Iceland and a 0-0 draw with Denmark in their two most recent fixtures.


Source : 90min