Tyrick Mitchell of Crystal Palace and Kyle Walker-Peters of Southampton have been called up to the England senior squad for the first time ahead of friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and Aston Villa forward Ole Watkins have also been added to the squad.
Mitchell and Walker-Peters will be joined in the squad by West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins, following the injuries to Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, and Tameem Abraham.
On Monday, Southgate met with the rest of the England coaching staff to assess who might withdraw and to decide which players to add to his squad.
He had a major problem in defense, with Luke Shaw the only fit full-back left on his roster – and he hasn’t played since the end of February, after recovering from injury and a bout of Covid.
Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold is also out for a few weeks with a hamstring strain, and Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has made it clear that he wants James to recover with the Blues rather than join up for two friendly internationals at Wembley.
It means calls for Walker-Peters, who won the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2017 and has caps for England from U18 to U21, and Mitchell, despite the Palace full-back having never played in any of England’s junior teams.
The 22-year-old has appeared in 33 games for Patrick Vieira’s side this season and has piqued the interest of England manager Gareth Southgate.
“We’ve been really impressed with Tyrick, and he was very close to being called up,” Southgate said last week. “I think he’s been very good with his defending; he gets out quickly to people, and he’s coped really well in big games against top opponents.”
