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Hudson-Odoi, Oxlade-Chamberlain recalled to England squad
Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi have been recalled to England national team along with defender John Stones and midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
James Maddison has been named in England’s Euro 2020 qualifiers squad – despite the Leicester midfielder being pictured in a casino after pulling out of the last squad with illness.
England host Montenegro on 14 November and play in Kosovo on 17 November.
Gareth Southgate’s side are top of Group A and need one more point to secure their place at Euro 2020.
Manchester City centre-back Stones replaces Everton defender Michael Keane, while Liverpool’s Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chelsea’s Hudson-Odoi have been added to a 27-man squad.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also been recalled to the England squad
Southgate said the “squad is a little larger than normal” because there were a “couple of injury doubts”.
Maddison needs to be ‘high-performance, low-maintenance’
Maddison has been picked in the past three squads but is yet to make his debut for England.
Southgate described his casino visit last month as a “bad decision”, but said he was not going to make an example of the midfielder.
“He’s only been in two squads,” said Southgate. “He had to go home ill last time. We sent him home – he was ill.
“Any suggestion he chose to go home because he wanted to go out is unfair. It’s not a great decision he took [to visit a casino].
“As an England player you have a different profile. Everyone has a camera-phone and wants to make money selling pictures.
“I didn’t feel the need to make a special case to call him. I wanted to see whether we would be selecting on form.
“I think it would be dangerous territory for me to go on a moral crusade over something that I don’t think was a good decision but was in his own time and we had released him from the squad.
“I’m not perfect and a lot of the players that we selected have had their moments. I didn’t think this was one to hinder him in terms of selection.
“But it’s not a good situation for a player when we’re talking about him in Sofia, and talking about him here and he’s yet to get on the pitch for us, so that’s the challenge.
“You want to be high-performance, low-maintenance. I am prepared to work with players who are more difficult but you’re more likely to back those players if they’ve scored a winner for you and sweated blood for you, and that’s the bond you build with those players over a longer period of time.”
Southgate added that Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish was “very close” to making his squad.
“Grealish is a very good player – I’ve watched him closely this season,” he said.
“The reality is he’s up against Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
“If we have any issues with the squad I wouldn’t hesitate to call him up. He was very close and just has to keep playing the way he is.”
England squad:
Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton (Aston Villa), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester City), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham), Harry Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)
