Grealish handed England call-up, Rashford and Winks withdraw

Jack Grealish has earned a first senior England call-up for the Nations League clashes with Iceland and Denmark, while Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks have withdrawn from the squad.

Grealish was initially overlooked for the Group A2 encounters with Iceland in Reykjavik on Saturday and Denmark in Copenhagen three days later.

The Aston Villa captain has now been drafted into the squad by Gareth Southgate, who came in for criticism for omitting the midfielder last week.

Grealish represented England at under-21 level and played in Southgate’s 2016 Toulon Tournament-winning squad.

Congratulations, @JackGrealish

Welcome to the #ThreeLions!

— England (@England) August 31, 2020

Manchester United forward Rashford misses out with an ankle injury, while Tottenham midfielder Winks is also unavailable due to injury so Southgate is down to a squad of 24.

Rashford tweeted on Monday: “Never want to let this team down but these fixtures just came a little too soon for me.

“I tried my best but I have to focus on starting the season at my strongest for club and country. Good luck boys, I’ll be cheering you on from home.”

Southgate also called-up uncapped Wolves defender Conor Coady and versatile Arsenal’s versatile 23-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles at the weekend.