James Ward-Prowse replaces injured Kalvin Phillips in England squad
By Tom Gott
Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse has been called up to the England squad in place for Kalvin Phillips, who has picked up an injury.
The Leeds man was initially named in Gareth Southgate's squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary over the next week, but he picked up a calf strain in the 1-0 win over Watford and has been forced to pull out.
In his place came Ward-Prowse, whom England note joined up with the 24-man squad at St George's Park on Tuesday.
Ward-Prowse is the third alteration to Southgate's squad in recent days. Roma striker Tammy Abraham was added to the group shortly before Chelsea's Ben Chilwell was drafted in as defensive cover, after it was accepted that team-mate Reece James would be unable to feature.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel had previously questioned Southgate's decision to call up James, who picked up an ankle injury in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City and missed the team's last two games as a result.
"You'd assume the decision had my blessing, wouldn't you?" he laughed. "When I saw it, I thought that maybe Reece was going with the water polo team for England because, right now, he's training in the pool."
One of the matches James missed was his side's 3-1 victory over Southampton, in which Ward-Prowse was sent off for a nasty challenge just minutes after bringing his side level with an expertly-converted penalty.
The Southampton captain has eight international caps to his name and came tantalisingly close to earning a spot in the Euro 2020 squad. He was part of Southgate's extended group of players and featured in both warm-up fixtures against Austria and Romania, only to be left out of the final selection.
He joins Mason Mount, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Phil Foden and Declan Rice as part of Southgate's midfield cohort for the upcoming fixtures.