Grealish in England squad, Harwood-Bellis and Hall get first call-ups

LONDON: England winger Jack Grealish was called up by interim manager Lee Carsley on Thursday for their Nations League matches against Greece and Ireland despite missing the last five games for Manchester City with an injury.

England play Greece on Nov 14 in Athens before they host Ireland three days later at Wembley Stadium.

Grealish’s last game was a 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last month but the 29-year-old scored against Ireland in the reverse fixture in September and against Finland last month.

He has yet to score for City this season, however, while other players who impressed this campaign – such as Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Tottenham Hotspur’s James Maddison – missed out.

“I found a real big challenge of this job is to pick the squad. There are four or five players that can be disappointed they didn’t make this squad because they are having good seasons,” Carsley told reporters.

“We know a lot of the squad are managing injuries. Hopefully, we get a full set and pick the strongest team we can.”

Carsley has also called up two youngsters to the senior squad for the first time – Southampton’s 22-year-old central defender and England Under-21 captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle United left back Lewis Hall (20).

“They are both players who have played a lot of minutes this season,” Carsley said.

“They have shown they can consistently play in the Premier League at a high level. They are players I know really well.

“Taylor is a player who really deserves it, he’s a brilliant captain. Lewis has taken his time to settle in but has shown he can be consistent. He’s got a great left foot.”