Gareth Southgate to call up TWO shock last-minute replacements to England squad ahead of Belgium friendly

9 months ago 54

GARETH SOUTHGATE has called up Burnley keeper James Trafford and Manchester City star Rico Lewis to the England first-team squad for Tuesday night’s friendly against Belgium.

It comes just one week after Clarets boss Vincent Kompany dropped Trafford ahead of his side’s 2-1 win over Brentford.

England have confirmed he will replace Crystal Palace shot-stopper Sam Johnstone who has left the camp due to an elbow injury.

Johnstone’s issue is not a serious one but he has still returned to The Eagles for the remainder of the international break.

He joins Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker in leaving the camp due to injury.

And Walker has been replaced by Man City man Lewis, 19, who was also training with the U21s.

The versatile youngster, who can play as a full-back or midfielder, has started just one game in 2024.

That came in a 3-1 win over Copenhagen in the last 16 of the Champions League.

But he has still been called up by Southgate – who handed Lewis his debut back in November.

Lewis has started just five Premier League games this season, two of which came in defeats against Arsenal and Aston Villa.

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Trafford, 21, is not expected to play against Belgium – with Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale ahead of him in the pecking order.

But it will undoubtedly be a useful experience for the Man City academy product – who has been moved up from the U21s.

He is yet to make his England debut but has 17 appearances for the U21 side.

Prior to Burnley‘s win over Brentford last time out, Trafford had played every single minute of his club’s Premier League campaign.

But he was replaced by Arijanet Muric for the win over Thomas Frank’s men – Burnley’s fourth league victory of the season.

After the match, Kompany played down the significance of the decision.

He said: “It’s one of the positions where I have the luxury of having two good players.

“So at any given time I can make a decision that I think is best for the team.

“It’s not a big decision, it’s not a difficult decision, it’s just two good players fighting it out.

“And I won’t shy away from having that luxury in as many positions as I can.”

Meanwhile, England come into the clash against Belgium off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday.

Belgium have won three of the last four meetings between the nations, two of which came at the 2018 World Cup when Roberto Martinez’s men beat Southgate‘s side in the group stage and third-place play-off.