Fleetwood Town and Everton youngsters receive maiden England MU21s call-ups

Fleetwood Town defender James Hill and Everton winger Anthony Gordon have been given their first England men's under-21 call-ups.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ midfielder Morgan Gibbs White, who is currently on loan at Sheffield United, has also been given a MU21s recall by head coach Lee Carsley, as Chelsea defender Levi Samuels-Colwill, Arsenal forward Tyreece John-Jules, PSV Eindhoven winger Noni Madueke and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones all miss out on the squad this time around, with the latter suffering a freak eye injury earlier this week.

The Young Lions have a crucial 2023 UEFA U21 EURO qualifying match with Czech Republic on Thursday 11 November at Burnley FC’s Turf Moor (kick off 7pm), with the visitors currently topping the group on 12 points and England five behind in third, although Carsley’s men do have a game in hand on the top two.

The group will then travel to the Batumi Stadium to face Georgia for a non-qualifying international match on Tuesday 16 November (kick off 2pm).

There are 53 teams currently competing for one of the 14 places at the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Finals alongside tournament co-hosts Georgia and Romania.

The nine group winners and the best runner-up (not counting results against sixth-placed teams) will qualify directly for the final tournament.

The other eight runners-up will play off for the remaining four spots in September 2022 ahead of the Finals the following year.

For Hill, who became Fleetwood’s youngest ever player when he made his debut in 2018 aged 16, his maiden MU21s bow continues a great start to the 2021-22 season, having only received his first call-up at U20 level in late August.

Gordon has also had a superb start to the campaign, with the 20 year old establishing himself as a regular in Rafa Benitez’s matchday squad, making eight appearances for Everton in total so far this season.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Joe Bursik (Stoke City), Etienne Green (Saint-Etienne), Josh Griffiths (Lincoln City, loan from West Bromwich Albion)

Defenders: Max Aarons (Norwich City), Charlie Cresswell (Leeds United), Cody Drameh (Leeds United) **, Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Anderlecht, loan from Manchester City), Clinton Mola (VfB Stuttgart) ***, Luke Thomas (Leicester City)

Midfielders: Tommy Doyle (Hamburg, loan from Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace, loan from Chelsea), Jimmy Garner (Nottingham Forest, loan from Manchester United), Morgan Gibbs White (Sheffield United, loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa), Oliver Skipp (Tottenham Hotspur)

Forward: Folarin Balogun (Arsenal), Rhian Brewster (Sheffield United), Angel Gomes (Lille), Anthony Gordon (Everton), Cole Palmer (Manchester City)

* Emile Smith-Rowe (Arsenal) was initially named in the MU21s squad before being promoted to the senior team

** Replaces Valentino Livramento (Southampton) who withdrew due to injury

*** Replaces James Hill (Fleetwood Town) who withdrew due to injury