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SOUTHGATE HANDS BOWEN HIS FIRST ENGLAND CALL-UP

Dan Kilpatrick

JARROD BOWEN was this morning rewarded for a superb season for West Ham with a first senior England call-up, while defender Fikayo Tomori has returned to the squad for the Nations League matches against Hungary, Italy and Germany next month.

Bowen has been directly involved in 24 top-flight goals this season, scoring for the 11th and 12th time in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City which took the title race to the final day.

Southgate (right) revealed the 25-year-old was “in the frame” for the last squad in March but missed out after fracturing a bone in his foot.

However, there were no recalls for Leicester’s

James Maddison, despite the playmaker scoring in the final four matches of the season and finishing the campaign with 17 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, while Manchester United pair Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were also set to miss out again. Tottenham’s Eric Dier was also set to miss out, despite playing every minute in the heart of a back three for a Spurs side that conceded just five goals in their final 11 matches and clinched a return to the Champions League after a two-year absence with their late end-of-season winning run.

Fellow centre-half Tomori was back in the squad for the first time since October 2012, however, fresh from winning the Serie A with AC Milan at the weekend. He was a key part of the Milan team that won a first Scudetto in 11 years.

Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips is expected to return to the squad after missing the March games through injury, but right-backs Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier are touchand-go, having struggled for fitness during the run-in.

Left-backs Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell remain sidelined, raising the possibility of a second call-up for Crystal Palace’s Tyrick

Mitchell, who debuted in March.

England face

Hungary in Budapest on June 4 and Germany in Munich three days later. They then host

Italy in a rematch of the Euro

2020 Final behind closed doors at

Molineux on June

11, before the return fixture against

Hungary, also at Molineux, on

June 14.

Sport

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2022-05-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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