Leicester duo called into England squad after injury to Shaw

BEN Chilwell and Demarai Gray are celebrating their first senior England call-ups as Luke Shaw returns to United having sustained concussion against Spain.

Gareth Southgate’s side started their maiden UEFA Nations League campaign with a frustrating 2-1 defeat on Saturday when concerns over their 23-year-old leftback’s well-being overshadowed proceedings.

Shaw’s injury has opened the opportunity for uncapped left-back Chilwell, who moves up from the England Under-21s squad with Leicester team-mate Gray.

The pair could make their senior bows on home turf tomorrow as the King Power Stadium plays host to the Three Lions’ friendly against Switzerland.

Chilwell and Gray were part of the Foxes’ Premier League triumph in 2016 and come into the squad after helping the Young Lions keep control of their European Championship qualifying group with a 0-0 draw against Holland.

Southgate spoke of his intention to turn to the Under-21s squad at the start of the meet-up in the wake of the enforced withdrawals of Adam Lallana and City’s Raheem Sterling.

Uncapped Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli had been the only player to have been added to the initial squad.

Chilwell and Gray will not be replaced in the Under-21s squad for tomorrow’s qualifier in Latvia.

Meanwhile, Southgate says he is unsure whether England have time to become genuine Euro 2020 challengers but pledged to ‘keep faith’ with his principles after the Spain defeat.

Asked if England can close the gap before the next European Championships, Southgate said: “Very difficult to say.

“I think we’ve got some players who can and have shown they can perform at that level, and there’s some that are still a work in progress.

“We have got 19 matches, it’s not very long, but, in my opinion, we have got the best group of players in the country here. We have got some others who might come back from injury and maybe coming through from the junior ranks.

“But I think we have got to keep faith in the way we’re trying to play, otherwise we go back to what we did historically and there’s no way I believe we’ll ever be a top team if we do that. So, we are going to be brave enough to stick to our principles, and just get better at what we’re doing and identify how we improve.

“But that is not going to be an easy task because you can see the level of the top teams.”