Aidy Boothroyd has called on a 23-man squad for the trips to Italy and Denmark this month

Aidy Boothroyd has called on a 23-man squad for the trips to Italy and Denmark this month

England U21s begin their U21 EURO preparations on the road this month with games against Italy and Denmark.

Young Lions boss Aidy Boothroyd has named a 23-man squad for the double-header, which starts in Ferrara against the Azzurrini on Thursday 15 November.

November's U21 Internationals Italy v England

5.30pm, Thursday 15 November

Stadio Paolo Mazza, Ferrara

Denmark v England

5pm, Tuesday 20 November

Blue Water Arena, Esbjerg

Both games live on BT Sport

The group then move on to Esbjerg for their match with the Danes the following Tuesday, in what will be the final U21 games of 2018 and also ahead of the draw for the Finals on Friday 23 November.



There’s a return to the squad for Leicester City’s Demarai Gray, who missed the games with Andorra and Scotland last month through injury.

And after impressive U21 debuts last month, Phil Foden, Harvey Barnes and Reiss Nelson retain their place in Boothroyd’s squad as does Jay Dasilva who joined from the U20s squad following Ben Chilwell’s ascension into the senior set-up.

“They’re two very good games for us this month, after we secured our qualification in October,” said Boothroyd.

“One of them is in Italy, where the Championship is taking place next summer and it will be a real test for us, but that’s what we want.

“We can work on things that we might not necessarily have done in the qualifying games, which will help us towards competing against the best teams in Europe next summer.

“Denmark are a good side and they switch up things tactically and have a certain style in the way they play the game and they regularly qualify for the big tournaments so that’ll be a tough one.

“We’re looking forward to both matches, after coming out of a tough group ourselves.”

Expand The Young Lions sealed their U21 EURO qualification with a 7-0 victory over Andorra last month

After finishing top of their qualifying group, England are among the ten nations now secured for the Finals next June with another two teams set to join them following the play-offs this month.

And Boothroyd is looking forward to working closely with his squad over the next two weeks as they start to plan their campaign next year.

“We’ve now got two games where we can give everyone a look at what it is we’re trying to do for the summer,” he added.

“It’s nice to have Demarai back with us because he’s done really well and the competition for places is fantastic now.

“We had Reiss joining us for the first time last month and Harvey Barnes has done a really good job too so I’m really pleased that we’ve got two players who have come up and shown us they mean business.

“It’s great for the group because the standard is so high that it improves our training and everything else and you need that when you want to be successful - you need everybody fighting for a place.”

The squad

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Sheffield United, loan from Manchester United), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United)

Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Bristol City, loan from Chelsea), Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)

Midfielders: Harvey Barnes (West Bromwich Albion, loan from Leicester), Lewis Cook (AFC Bournemouth), Tom Davies (Everton), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Josh Onomah (Sheffield Wednesday, loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)

Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa, loan from Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Ademola Lookman (Everton), Reiss Nelson (Hoffenheim, loan from Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool)