Jack Wilshere has been rewarded for his first run of 90-minute matches for more than two years with an England recall after Dele Alli was forced out of Gareth Southgate’s plans for the next two games with a knee injury. Wilshere has been named in a 25-man party for the World Cup qualifier against Scotland on Friday and the friendly against Spain the following Tuesday, after finally starting to show he is capable of playing regularly in the top division since joining Bournemouth on loan from Arsenal.
Harry Kane is also recalled after his return to the Tottenham Hotspur side, while Adam Lallana, Danny Drinkwater, Nathaniel Clyne and Raheem Sterling have been brought back after missing Southgate’s first two games as caretaker manager. Southgate has resisted any temptation to give Ross Barkley another chance while Michail Antonio’s hopes of winning his first England cap have clearly diminished. The West Ham man has been unable to keep his place while Alex Oxlade‑Chamberlain also misses out as Southgate prepares for the pair of games that will almost certainly determine whether he is offered the chance to replace Sam Allardyce on a full-time basis.
Wilshere was excluded for Allardyce’s solitary game in charge against Slovakia and was also left out when Southgate took control for the qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia, but since then the midfielder has shown a clear improvement in his fitness.
His appearance against Tottenham last month was the first time he had completed 90 minutes of Premier League football for 771 days, stretching back to Arsenal’s game against Manchester City in September 2014. Having subsequently done the same for Bournemouth in their following two matches, Wilshere can reflect that his move to the south coast is starting to pay off in terms of his fitness and international prospects.
Southgate said: “Jack Wilshere is a player who we feel has a lot of class, it’s good for him to get some 90 minutes under his belt again and we felt the time was right to put him back in.”
Southgate will explain more of his reasoning at a 10am press conference at St George’s Park on Monday, when he is also likely to face questions about the absence of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw from his list of defenders. Both players pulled out of Manchester United’s squad for the 3-1 win against Swansea City, apparently upsetting José Mourinho in the process, and their injuries have now been deemed serious enough for them to miss out with the national team.
That means Burnley’s Michael Keane keeps his place in the squad while Southgate must have concerns that Kyle Walker might also miss out because of the injury that forced him off during the second half of Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal. Walker has been named in the squad and will report to Burton to be examined by England’s medical staff, whereas the FA have adhered to the request of Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs manager, that it is “common sense” not to include Alli after he twisted his knee in training on Saturday.
England squad to face Scotland and Spain
Goalkeepers Forster (Southampton), Hart (Torino), Heaton (Burnley); Defenders Bertrand (Southampton), Cahill (Chelsea), Clyne (Liverpool), Jagielka (Everton), Keane (Burnley), Rose (Tottenham), Stones (Man City), Walker (Tottenham); Midfielders Dier (Tottenham), Drinkwater (Leicester), Henderson (Liverpool), Wilshere (Bournemouth), Lallana (Liverpool), Lingard (Man Utd), Rooney (Man Utd), Sterling (Man City), Townsend (Crystal Palace); Forwards Walcott (Arsenal), Kane (Tottenham), Rashford (Man Utd), Sturridge (Liverpool), Vardy (Leicester).
