Clean bill of Delph: 427-man England squad announced
Manchester City Fabian Delph has been called up by Gareth Southgate for the England squad for the first time.
The Three Lions welcome Slovenia to Wembley next Thursday, before rounding off World Cup qualification with a trip to the Baltics to take on Lithuania.
Dele Alli has been included in England’s squad for the final Group F matches, despite the fact his middle-finger gesture in the qualifier against Slovakia could lead FIFA to hand out a ban ruling the attacking midfielder out of both games.
The Football Association had been hoping to find out about his availability before Thursday’s squad announcement but, as had always been intended, the 21-year-old has been called up despite his position being unclear.
FIFA confirmed to Press Association Sport that its Disciplinary Committee would make a decision on Alli by Thursday, but warned “disciplinary decisions are usually notified and communicated a few days after the hearing”.
Manchester City midfielder Delph, our early winner from the Champions League midweek, was the standout name in the 26-man squad, having won the last of his nine caps against Spain in November 2015.
Nathaniel Chalobah, Danny Welbeck and Tom Heaton – members of the last squad – miss out through injury, while Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, who has been managing a hip injury, was left out.
Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster joined Delph as the only changes to the squad, with Everton’s Michael Keane has been included despite concerns over a foot complaint.
