Welbeck, Wilshere set for England; Shaw, Ings out

Matt Stead

Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere will return to the England set-up on Thursday, but Luke Shaw and Danny Ings miss out.

The Football Association announced last week that England boss Hodgson would meet with his players at the National Football Centre near Burton-upon-Trent.

A similar meeting that was proposed last year had to be scrapped after discussions with Premier League clubs broke down, but negotiations have been far more fruitful this winter and Hodgson got his wish to plug the four-month gap between international fixtures with an informal gathering.

Around 40 of the 47 players who Hodgson has called up since the World Cup will be present at St George’s Park for the meeting, which is expected to last three or four hours.

Among them will be Welbeck and Wilshere, who have not played for England for 11 and eight months respectively.

Welbeck was a regular under Hodgson prior to a serious knee injury he suffered last April while Wilshere has not featured for club or country this season due to a long-term leg injury.

Both are now on the mend, however, and Arsenal are happy to let the pair travel north for the meeting, in which the focus will be on reviewing England’s last two fixtures – against Spain and France in November – and preparations for Euro 2016.

Two players who are not expected to attend are long-term injury absentees Luke Shaw and Danny Ings.

Shaw broke his leg in two places last September playing for Manchester United against PSV Eindhoven, while Ings is out for the season after rupturing knee ligaments during Jurgen Klopp’s first training session in charge of Liverpool.

Press Association Sport also understands striker Charlie Austin, who was called up for the matches against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia last summer, is not going to Burton even though he has impressed since moving from QPR to Premier League side Southampton last month.

No new faces are expected to take part in the meet-up.

The FA insists those who do not attend have not been ruled out of consideration for European Championship selection, but given the seriousness of his injury, it would come as a surprise if Shaw made Hodgson’s 23-man squad for the tournament.

Hodgson can take comfort from the fact he has plenty of other options at left-back, including Ryan Bertrand, Leighton Baines, Kieran Gibbs and Danny Rose.

The England manager will also be happy to see Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has returned to action recently following his well-publicised battle with injury.

In-form Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster is also understood to be attending the meeting on Thursday following his recovery from a knee injury.

The get-together is expected to take place in the evening after the players have trained with their respective clubs.

A smaller squad of around 23 will convene next month when England play friendlies in Germany and at home to Holland.