Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Ezri Konsa get first England call-ups

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Manchester City’s Rico Lewis and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa have received their first call-ups to the senior England squad for the final Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.

Palmer, part of the Under-21s squad that won the European Championship in July, has been summoned by Gareth Southgate the morning after he scored a stoppage-time penalty for Chelsea to secure a 4-4 draw against his former club Manchester City.

Lewis has been promoted from the Under-21s despite starting only two Premier League games this season, one on the opening day. He is a versatile player who is generally deployed in midfield or as a full-back.

Konsa, who won the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, has played every minute of every Premier League game for Aston Villa. He is used by his club mainly as a centre-back but can also play at right-back.

The trio’s call-ups follow the withdrawals of James Maddison, Callum Wilson and Lewis Dunk. Most of the squad are due to report to St George’s Park on Monday and the Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has indicated that Jude Bellingham will also have to pull out.

England, who have qualified for Euro 2024, face Malta at Wembley on Friday and play away to North Macedonia three days later.