Marcus Rashford has been recalled by Thomas Tuchel as he announced his first squad as England manager for March’s World Cup Qualifiers.
Rashford has faced a difficult season, dropped by Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim in December and not making an appearance for the club since December 12.
In January, he made a loan move to Aston Villa, with his performances markedly improved. He has made four assists since and helped the club into the Champions League quarter-finals with one against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
Now, he has been rewarded with a return to the England set-up, having last featured for the Three Lions in March last year as a substitute against Brazil at Wembley.
There is also a return to the squad for Jordan Henderson, adding more experience to Tuchel’s options. The Ajax midfielder’s last appearance was in October 2023 against Australia.
Elsewhere, Myles Lewis-Skelly earns his first senior inclusions for games against Albania and Latvia at Wembley this month. The Arsenal midfielder, who can also play at left-back, never earned an U21 cap, but he did play for England at lower youth levels.
Myles Lewis-Skelly could make his senior England debut this month
Newcastle defender Dan Burn has also been included, having never featured for England at any level, while Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers is selected again after making his senior debut in November.
Tuchel has only included two recognised strikers in his 26-player squad – Harry Kane and Dominic Solanke. There is no place for Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins.
There are also a number of players missing through injury, including Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall and Bukayo Saka.
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Analysis: Tuchel wants experience in first squad
Sky Sports News’ Rob Dorsett at Wembley:
“Rashford had been exiled by Man Utd and England but he now returns in the first England squad under Tuchel. Myles Lewis-Skelly is in, the teenager called up to the senior squad in a massive moment for him.
“There’s a return for Jordan Henderson too. Forgotten about by a lot of people in this country, but Tuchel has been over to Ajax to look at him and clearly been impressed by what he has seen. Really interesting.
“We have spoken about Tuchel wanting to win the World Cup. Does he have any interest in bringing young players in for the future, probably not as that might not be on his watch.
“He has gone for the old guard in Henderson, Kyle Walker also returns after performing well for AC Milan and he is back in the squad.
“Four goalkeepers in too – Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and James Trafford, who is the clean sheet machine [for Burnley in the Championship] and one for the future.
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“I have never seen an England manager pick four goalkeepers before. Maybe he is not certain who he wants the number two choice to be.
“In the absence of Harry Maguire due to injury, Dan Burn gets his chance. Reece James also returns with Trent Alexander-Arnold injured right now. He knows him well from his time at Chelsea.
“We wondered if Liam Delap would have an outside chance, but is is Dominic Solanke.
“There are some interesting omissions, with no Jack Grealish. Ollie Watkins is not in this squad and we fully expected him to be.
“There are a lot of surprises in this squad. What do we read into that? Tuchel wants some experience in this England squad.”
England squad in full
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley).
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan, loan from Manchester City).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa).
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa, loan from Manchester United), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur).
