England have confirmed their 23-man squad for the European Under-21 championship in Poland this month, with Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Izzy Brown and the Celtic forward Patrick Roberts all missing out with injury.
England kick off their campaign on 16 June against the holders Sweden as they attempt to win the competition for the first time since 1984. With Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford already having been made unavailable due to his call-up to the senior squad, the loss of Loftus-Cheek, who has been struggling with a back problem, and Roberts, who spent last season on loan at the Scottish champions from Manchester City and has been nursing a hamstring strain, is a major blow.
Aidy Boothroyd’s side will also have to make do without Brown, who was on loan at Huddersfield last season. However, after comfortably sealing their spot at the finals by recording six wins and two draws in their qualification group, the coach will be confident of progressing from a group that also contains the hosts and Slovakia.
“We have some good players and like for any international team, bringing them all together and getting them all to work as a single unit, that is always the challenging part,” Boothroyd said.
“But we’ve got players with big-game experience now, lads who have played in cup finals, play-off finals, big games and a couple of senior internationals. In this particular age group we have a very capable, mature squad with a nice balance between the soldiers and the artists, so I’m really looking forward to it.
“I think we’re well equipped on paper and it’s now about putting some hard work in on the grass, which we’ve been doing over the last three weeks to be ready for the tournament.”
The majority of competing teams have now named their squads in readiness for Tuesday’s deadline, with Germany currently the bookmakers’ favourites, followed by Spain and Portugal.
England Under-21 squad
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jonathan Mitchell (Derby County), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland).
Defenders: Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rob Holding (Arsenal), Mason Holgate (Everton), Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Alfie Mawson (Swansea City), Jack Stephens (Southampton), Matt Targett (Southampton).
Midfielders: Lewis Baker (Chelsea), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Will Hughes (Derby County), John Swift (Reading), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Jacob Murphy (Norwich City), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham)
Standby: Joe Wildsmith (Sheffield Wednesday), Sam McQueen (Southampton)
