Wilshere handed England recall as fit-again quartet return

Jack Wilshere has been recalled to the England squad for the World Cup qualifier with Scotland and the friendly against Spain.

The Arsenal midfielder, who opted to leave on loan to Bournemouth on transfer deadline day in a bid to prove his fitness and establish himself back in England squad, has not played for his country since their humiliating Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland in June.

Wilshere has made seven Premier League starts since the temporary switch to the Vitality Stadium, leading England interim manager Gareth Southgate to include him in his 23-man squad.

Harry Kane, who scored a penalty in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday, is also recalled having recovered from injury.

Fitness problems kept Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Nathaniel Clyne out of October’s meetings with Malta and Slovenia, but that trio are all now fit and included.

Uncapped Burnley defender Michael Keane keeps his place in the squad.

“Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at as many games as possible and keeping track of all of the players,” said Southgate.

“There were some players that weren’t available to us last time with injury who are in good form that make the frame – the likes of Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling. It’s good to be able to welcome them back.

“Similarly Harry Kane. We had some good discussions with a lot of the clubs over the past few weeks, and Tottenham have been very helpful in terms of Harry’s availability. I’m grateful to Mauricio [Pochettino] for that.

“Of course, Jack Wilshere is a player that we feel has a lot of class and is now starting to get more 90-minutes under his belt. It’s good to bring him back into the squad.”

England squad to play Scotland and Spain:

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino, loan from Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley).

Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).

Midfielders: Eric Dier (Tottenham), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Bournemouth, on loan from Arsenal)

Strikers: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City).