England's interim manager Gareth Southgate has picked his squad for his side's 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia. Manchester United's star duo Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard have made it to the squad along with their club captain Wayne Rooney.
The Football Association (FA) appointed Southgate as the interim manager following Sam Allardyce's resignation. The Telegraph's sting operation saw the former Sunderland and West Ham United manager advise to reporters, who posed as fake businessmen on how to evade the FA's rules for player transfers. This led to Allardyce stepping down from his post.
Liverpool duo Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana have picked up injuries, which is the reason behind their omission. The Reds captain Jordan Henderson has joined Daniel Sturridge from Anfield.
Stoke City defender Glen Johnson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain return to national duties after a lengthy absence. Southgate has given his thoughts after selecting his final squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
"We've tried to keep some continuity from last month because my view would be that there are a lot of things that have been going right," Southgate told the FA's official website.
"We've had a few people unavailable through injury like Harry Kane and Jack Butland, and we've lost a couple over the weekend in Danny Drinkwater, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne while Luke Shaw isn't quite back fit yet. That's had a bearing on the squad.
"There are obviously a couple of players that I've worked with in the Under-21s with Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, who we think are exciting young players who we wanted to put in this squad.
"It's obviously been a difficult week in a number of ways, however we are in a position now where it's important to get the squad named. I'm looking forward now to working with the players because it's important that we build on the performance and the result against Slovakia."
Gareth Soutgahte's first England squad qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, Tom Heaton
Defenders: Kyle Walker, John Stones, Chris Smalling, Danny Rose, Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Ryan Bertrand
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Michail Antonio, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Theo Walcott
Forwards: Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rahford, Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy
