England confirm two players added to Lee Carsley’s squad after fresh injury concerns | Football | Sport
England have announced that Curtis Jones and Tino Livramento have been added to the squad ahead of the upcoming clashes with Greece and Finland.
The Three Lions have been hit with several setbacks in this international break so far, though the absences of certain players is expected to allow Lee Carsley to rotate his ranks and experiment with his team.
The interim England manager is hoping to impress once more as he looks to secure the position on a permanent basis and succeed Gareth Southgate, who left after leading the Three Lions to the final of the Euros over the summer.
Earlier this week, England announced that Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo, Nottingham Forest ace Morgan Gibbs-White and Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa would all miss the internationals this month due to injuries.
The trio all sustained problems whilst representing their respective clubs over the weekend and they were therefore not fit to compete. Carsley has continued to lean on those who he has worked with at under-21 level since being named England interim, and he has repeated that trend with his latest call-ups.
Newcastle’s Livramento, who was named in Carsley’s first England squad previously, and Liverpool playmaker Jones have been added to his squad to face Greece at Wembley Stadium on Thursday. The Three Lions then travel to Helsinki to play Finland on Sunday afternoon.
Carsley could be without skipper Harry Kane for the clashes, with the Bayern Munich star currently training on an individualised programme. The striker marked his 100th England cap with a brace against Finland in the last international break, silencing some criticism that he was not meeting the mark for his nation after an underwhelming Euros campaign.
Carsley is also waiting to learn whether Manchester City’s Jack Grealish will be able to face Greece.
The versatile forward missed a recent training session as a precaution after suffering a minor knock.
Grealish has recently heaped the praise on Carsley following his return to the Three Lions set-up, having been left out of England’s squad over the summer. He told BBC 5 Live: “I thank the manager here for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
“It’s obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I’ve played under managers that have shown a trust in me and communicated with me the way he has in the past two camps it really helps me. It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can’t speak highly enough of him since I’ve been here.”
