James Ward-Prowse replaces injured Calvin Phillips in England World Cup qualifying squad | football news

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James Ward-Prowse has replaced Calvin Phillips in the England squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers after the Leeds midfielder withdrew due to injury.

Phillips was assessed by the medical staff after Leeds’ win over Watford at the weekend and deemed unfit.

Ward-Prowse – who scored and sent off in Southampton’s 3-1 loss to Chelsea on Saturday – is already at St George’s Park with his England teammates.

Gareth Southgate’s side play Andorra on Saturday before hosting Hungary at Wembley on Tuesday 12 October.

Phillips has been a key player for England’s run to the Euro 2020 final this summer, playing in all seven matches and forming a strong partnership with Declan Rice in midfield.

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Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse talks to Sky Sports about the difficulty of his summer watching England at Euro 2020 after failing to reach the final squad for the tournament.

Ward-Prowse was part of England’s provisional squad ahead of Euro 2020 – and played in both friendlies against Austria and Romania – but was left out of the squad ahead of the tournament.

He joins Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell in the late additions to the England squad.

Abraham and Chilwell were called up on Monday – four days after Southgate named his original squad – after Reece James withdrew with an ankle injury.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel called James’ call-up a “misunderstanding” and joked that he thought the defender was on the England water polo team because he was training in the pool where he recovered from the injury.

Photo: Calvin Phillips started all seven matches as England reached the Euro 2020 final this summer

England are four points ahead of second-placed Albania in World Cup qualifying Group A, with four games remaining.

They concluded their qualifying campaign with home matches against Albania and away to San Marino next month.

Abraham’s return to Rome

Ron Walker on Sky Sports:

Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport said “the English player’s stats are excellent” after Abraham’s contribution to Roma’s 2-0 win over Empoli on Sunday turned the tide in Southgate’s favour, prompting an England call-up.

“The ex-Chelsea player did not score in that match, but provided the assist when his woodwork attempt rebounded to Henrikh Mkhitaryan to score the net. It was the sixth time Abraham was denied the goalframe since he joined the club in the summer plus the four goals. which he contributed.

“Southgate will be delighted with his goal – and his closeness to a foul – as well as his contribution to returning to the pitch. In addition to his finishing, Abraham creates more chances for others than he has in his two full seasons at Chelsea, and also his heat map shows, he is more involved outside penalty area.

“There is even evidence of Mourinho’s old confidence being bolstered by a coach who is very pleased with his new arrival.” There are some strikers who can be the best on the pitch even without scoring goals, and that’s exactly what happened against Empoli for Tammy,” he said before the 24-year-old England was called up.

“In the long run, removing Harry Kane on the international stage will prove an obvious struggle for Abraham. For now at least, his Italian job is paying off.”

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