Lee Carsley makes three surprise decisions as he announces his first England squad

Lee Carsley has named his first squad as England interim manager (Picture: Getty)

England interim manager Lee Carsley has made three three surprise decisions as he announced his first Three Lions squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures.

Carsley, who previously coached the England Under-21 side, stepped up to replace Gareth Southgate following his resignation after the Three Lions’ defeat in the Euro 2024 final.

The 50-year-old has stuck with many of the same players that England took to Germany, but has looked to put his own spin on the squad with a surprise recall handed to Manchester City’s Jack Grealish as well as first senior call-ups to given to Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Lille’s Angel Gomes.

Grealish was cut from England’s final 26-man squad for the European Championship and has played just 20 minutes for City so far this season.

Madueke, who worked under Carsley at U21 level, is rewarded for his impressive start for the season which included a hat-trick against Wolves last weekend.

The winger is joined in the Three Lions squad by Chelsea teammate Levi Colwill who earns a recall to the senior side having made his debut against Australia in October last year.

There is also a surprise inclusion handed to former Manchester United midfielder Gomes who has impressed in Ligue 1 with Lille and was a key cog in Carsley’s England side that won the European Under-21 Championship last summer.

Noni Madueke has earned his first senior call-up (Picture: Getty)

Newcastle defender Tino Livramento and Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White are two others also handed their first senior call-ups.

‘Angel is different to what we have seen in past in central midfield,’ Carsley said of Gomes’ call-up. ‘Angel is very technical, controls the game with his technique and skill and is very very determined, excellent attitude and loves the game.

‘Technically and tactically he is excellent. is a player people will be really exited to see.’

Speaking about Gibbs-White, he added: ‘Morgan is an attacking player full of energy, very creative, brilliant attitude and work rate, he is very difficult to play against.

‘They have [both] been successful for England which is important. These players are used to winning and Morgan and Angel were part of that [U-17] World Cup team a few years back.’

Elsewhere, Kyle Walker misses out having not played so far this season for City, while Jude Bellingham and Luke Shaw are both unavailable for selection due to injury.

United defender Harry Maguire comes back into the side having missed out on the Euros, there is no place for his teammate Marcus Rashford who has started both league games for Erik ten Hag’s side this season.

Ivan Toney, Aaron Ramsdale, Adam Wharton, Joe Gomez and Lewis Dunk, who were all part of the Euros squad, have been left out.

There is also still no place in the squad for Arsenal defender Ben White who hasn’t played for his country since a nasty fall-out with Gareth Southgate’s No.2 Steve Holland at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

White made himself unavailable for selection at the Euros and has reportedly not changed that decision since Southgate’s departure.

And there is no place, too, for Kieran Trippier who announced his retirement from international football just hours before Thursday’s squad announcement.

England face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday before returning to Wembley to take on Finland on Tuesday.

The Three Lions find themselves in League B of the Nations League for the first time, after a disastrous set of results saw them relegated from League A in 2022.

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