Plymouth Argyle loanee Darko Gyabi switches to England under-21s squad

Plymouth Argyle's on-loan Leeds United midfielder Darko Gyabi has joined up with the England under-21s squad for the first time.

The England senior squad for their UEFA Nations League games against Greece in Athens tonight and the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday has been hit hard by withdrawals. Nine players have dropped out, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.

A number of players have therefore been promoted from the under-21s squad, such as Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Morgan Rogers and James Trafford, as replacements.

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The knock-on effect has seen Gyabi join up with the under-21s squad after originally being selected in the England Elite League (under-20s) squad. There have also been call-ups for the likes of Norwich City defender Ben Chrisene and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who is on loan at Sheffield United from Crystal Palace.

England under-21s have two away friendly internationals coming up, the first against Spain in Cadiz tomorrow (5.30pm GMT) and then the Netherlands in Almere on Monday (5.45pm GMT).

After sealing qualification for next summer’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in Slovakia with victories over Ukraine and Azerbaijan last month, England will use these latest two games to prepare for the defence of their title.

Gyabi, who is in his second loan spell at Argyle from Leeds, has made 12 starts and two substitute appearances in the Championship this season. The one game he did not play in was against his parent club, a 3-0 defeat at Elland Road on November 2.

Meanwhile, Argyle's 18-year-old attacker Freddie Issaka played for Wales as they beat host nation Scotland 1-0 in their first of three Group 5 games in the European Under-19 Championship qualifying round.

Issaka had the assist for the winning goal when he fired the ball inside to Gabriele Biancheri in the 18th minute of the match, which was played at the Forthbank Stadium in Stirling. Wales are next in action against France, also in Stirling, on Saturday.

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