LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- England coach Gareth Southgate on Wednesday named West Ham's 20-year-old midfielder, Declan Rice for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifying games at home to the Czech Republic and away to Montenegro on March 22nd and March 25th.
Rice was born and raised in Kingston-upon-Thames, just outside of London, although the fact his mother's parents are from the Republic of Ireland meant he was also eligible to play for the Republic and he made three appearances for them before deciding to switch allegiance to England in February.
FIFA gave Rice international clearance to make the change on March 5th and his call up comes just a week later.
"His form warrants it," confirmed Southgate, who added that Rice's situation was "well-publicized."
"We've tracked him for quite a while ... His form has been excellent. We like what we see. There aren't many players of his age playing as well as he is in the Premier League," he added,
The squad also sees a return for Burnley goalkeeper, Tom Heaton, who hasn't played for England since June 2017, while defenders Danny Rose, James Tarkowski, Harry Maguire all return after the injuries which caused them to miss England's last game, which was a 2-1 win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League in November.
Meanwhile the injured duo of Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks and Manchester United's Jesse Lingard drop out of the squad.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Tom Heaton, Jordan Pickford
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, Luke Shaw, John Stones, James Tarkowski, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Dele Alli, Fabian Delph, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Declan Rice
Forwards: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson.
