City keeper handed call by England Under-21s
CITY goalkeeper James Trafford has been rewarded for his fine form on loan at Bolton with a first call-up to the England Under-21 squad.
Trafford is one of three Blues players in Lee Carsley’s party, but there is a notable omission of Cole Palmer.
The Young Lions face four Under-21 European Championship qualifiers next month against Czech Republic, Albania, Kosovo and Slovenia.
Trafford, 19, who has been capped up to under-20 level, joined Bolton on loan in January. He made 22 appearances, keeping seven clean sheets and earning plenty of positive reviews from Wanderers fans and pundits alike.
Now, he joins regular Under-21 keeper Joe Bursik, and Brighton’s Carl Rushworth in the squad.
City defender Taylor HarwoodBellis, who spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Stoke in the Championship, gets another call-up after captaining the U21s in the last international break.
Tommy Doyle gets picked again after some good form on loan at Cardiff following his disappointing time at Hamburg.
United’s James Garner will battle Doyle for a midfield spot after he plays in the Championship play-off final with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Aston Villa starlet Jacob Ramsey and Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot are also in the group, as are Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe and former United forward Angel Gomes.
However, there is no room for Palmer, who returned from injury towards the end of the season to help City’s under-23s to the Premier League 2 title and support the first team squad in their successful bid to win the Premier League title. He missed the last England squad through injury.