England: Conor Coady and Ainsley Maitland-Niles called up by Gareth Southgate



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Conor Coady and Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Conor Coady, left, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Wolves captain Conor Coady and Arsenal winger Ainsley Maitland-Niles have joined Gareth Southgate’s England team for the Nations League games against Iceland and Denmark.

The 27-year-old Wolves Coady center-back has played every Premier League game for his team over the past two seasons.

Maitland-Niles was man of the match on Sunday and scored in the shootout as Arsenal beat Liverpool to win the Community Shield on his 23rd birthday.

It is a first call for both players.

They have both represented England at the youth level: Coady captained his team at the 2010 U-17 European Championship and Maitland-Niles won the 2017 U-20 World Cup.

England’s players will meet at St George’s Park on Monday.

Southgate’s team will face Euro 2016 winner Iceland in Reykjavik on September 5 before taking on Denmark in Copenhagen three days later.

The disruption to the soccer calendar caused by the coronavirus, including Euro 2020 which was delayed a year to 2021, means that England have not played since November 2019, when a 4-0 win in Kosovo concluded their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020.

Coady is a direct replacement for Harry Maguire, who was removed from the team by coach Southgate on Tuesday after receiving a suspended prison sentence on the Greek island of Syros.

The Manchester United captain, who was convicted of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and repeated bribery attempts, has since appealed against the decision, meaning the conviction has been overturned in accordance with Greek law.

He told the BBC he feared for his life and thought he was being kidnapped during the incident in Mykonos.

Southgate said removing Maguire was “in the best interest of all parties.”

England team

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope.

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Joe Gomez, Michael Keane, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Tyrone Mings, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders: Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse, Harry Winks.

Forward: Tammy Abraham, Mason Greenwood, Danny Ings, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling.

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