Arsenal’s sensational youngster of Nigeria descent, Bukayo Saka who recently admitted to the selection headache of who to commit his long term international future too with England and Super Eagles knocking heavily has been selected by Aidy Boothroyd for European Championship Qualifiers alongside Jude Bellingham, who made the £25million switch from Birmingham City earlier in the summer and Brentford’s Josh Dasilva, with all three looking for debuts.
Aidy Boothroyd is now without startlets Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood, who were promoted to Gareth Southgate’s senior team.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has dropped back down to the Under 21s for European Championship qualifiers away in Kosovo and Austria on September 4 and 8 while Burnley winger Dwight McNeil is a surprise omission.
‘We’re all really looking forward to meeting up for the first time since November,’ Boothroyd said.
‘We have two testing away matches against our closest rivals in the group and it’ll be a good opportunity for the players to come together again, even if it will be an unusual experience with no crowds at either of the fixtures.
“We had a 2-0 home victory against Kosovo in Hull a year ago and I remember they made things difficult for us with a disciplined defensive performance.”
“After that, we played really well in a 5-1 win against Austria in Milton Keynes, which I’m sure our hosts will want to make amends for when we make the return trip.”
“We know we are in good shape for the qualification and this is a hungry squad that has a great opportunity in front of them with next summer’s finals not too far away.”
“We have to get the job done first and these will be two tough fixtures. I am looking forward to seeing the players again and helping them with another key stage in their development.”
