No James or Sterling but Henderson included in latest England squad

Brad Ferguson

Updated

Jordan Henderson has been selected for England's latest squadAFP

Gareth Southgate has named his latest England squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, with Chelsea's Raheem Sterling and Reece James both failing to make the cut.

Sterling has seen an upturn in form in the past few weeks, starting 10 times for the Blues and scoring three goals, while James has recently made a full return to action from injury.

Neither has been included in the Three Lions squad though. However, the likes of Bukayo Saka and James Maddison - both of whom picked up knocks in their most recent club outings for Arsenal and Tottenham respectively - have both been selected.

Newcastle forward Callum Wilson is also recalled despite picking up an injury against Dortmund on Tuesday.

Gareth Southgate has revealed his squad for England's November qualifiersAFP

Manchester City's John Stones and Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah are the casualties from Southgate's previous squad to drop out.

Jordan Henderson, who controversially joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July and has been on the receiving end of backlash from England fans in recent times, also keeps his spot.

Southgate said the door remained open for Chelsea attacker Sterling, who has now missed the past five international camps since being part of the squad for the World Cup in Qatar last year.

"The door is 100 per cent open not only for Raheem but for other players not in the squad," said Southgate.

"We don't need to know about his quality, his personality. He is a crucial part of why we've had the journey we've had over the last few years.

"I can only repeat what I have said in the meetings, we're playing exceptionally well and who can I leave out?"

Sterling has not been involved in an England camp for some timeAFP

Southgate expressed his disappointment that Stones had sustained another injury and revealed James asked not to be included in the squad after only recently returning to action after a hamstring issue.

"I am really disappointed for John," Southgate said.

"The quality of his play is outstanding. He's having a difficult time injury-wise at the moment, but it gives others an opportunity and we do need to know a little bit more about other players in that area of the pitch.

"I was hoping to call Reece James, but he doesn't feel he is quite ready and I understand that."

England play Malta at Wembley on November 17th and travel to North Macedonia on November 20th.

Southgate's side have already qualified for the tournament next summer in Germany after beating Italy 3-1 last month.