1:43 Rob Dorsett reveals James Maddison has withdrawn from the England squad due to illness Rob Dorsett reveals James Maddison has withdrawn from the England squad due to illness

James Maddison has withdrawn from the England squad for the upcoming European Qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria due to illness.

The Leicester midfielder has returned home to recover and it is understood England boss Gareth Southgate will not call up a replacement.

Maddison has been an unused substitute four times in two different England squads but is yet to receive his first senior cap.

Asked last week why the 22-year-old has not featured yet, Southgate said: "I can't guarantee people football.

Maddison was part of the England U21 squad who exited at the group stage of the 2019 European Championships

"He only has to see the players that have been left out to recognise just to get in the squad is an achievement, and I don't handle him any differently to any of the others, really.

"He wants to talk football which is great. He wants to know what areas of his game that we like and that we think he can improve.

"He seems to take all of that on board really well, so he's playing very well, but so is [Mason] Mount, so is [Jadon] Sancho and so are all of the others - that's the conundrum."

16:57 In an episode of Off Script, Maddison talks openly about dealing with fame, his love for cricket, how he dreads the highlight circle on MNF and having to wash Steven Pressley’s car In an episode of Off Script, Maddison talks openly about dealing with fame, his love for cricket, how he dreads the highlight circle on MNF and having to wash Steven Pressley’s car

Maddison has scored nine goals and registered nine assists in his 43 Premier League appearances for Leicester since joining the club from Norwich in 2018.

England travel to Prague to play Czech Republic on Friday, before an away fixture against Bulgaria three days later.