Liverpool duo Joe Gomez and Jordon Ibe have been included in the England Under-21 squad to face the USA’s Under-23 side next month.
Defender Gomez, 18, gets his first call-up by Gareth Southgate after impressing in the Reds’ unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Ibe has 10 England youth caps to his name and this promotion to the Under-21 ranks is a step closer to securing his international future amid interest from Nigeria.
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Only seven of the 23 players who were knocked out in the group stages of the European Championships this summer are retained, including Nathan Redmond, Calum Chambers and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Tottenham Hotspur starlet Eric Dier is included alongside new White Hart Lane teammate Dele Alli, who scored his first Premier League goal in Spurs’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday.
Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom, as well as goalkeepers Angus Gunn of Manchester City and Christian Walton of Brighton & Hove Albion, who have three players in the squad, could all win their first caps in the friendly at Deepdale on September 3, or the Euro 2017 qualifier in Norway four days later.
Full England Under-21 squad:
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Man City), Jordan Pickford (Preston, on loan from Sunderland), Christian Walton (Bury, on loan from Brighton).
Defenders: Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Brendan Galloway (Everton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Kortney Hause (Wolves), Dominic Iorfa (Wolves), Jack Stephens (Middlesbrough, on loan from Southampton), Matt Targett (Southampton).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Forwards: Chuba Akpom (Hull, on loan from Arsenal), Jordon Ibe (Liverpool), Solly March (Brighton), Nathan Redmond (Norwich), Duncan Watmore (Sunderland), James Wilson (Man Utd), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham)
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