Wolves’ Conor Coady and Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles called into England squad
Written by News on 30/08/2020
Wolves’ Conor Coady and Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles have received their first England call-ups ahead of the Nations League double-header next week.
It takes the squad number to 25 players with no withdrawals so far, despite coronavirus concerns over some members of Gareth Southgate’s team ahead of the games.
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England travel to Iceland (September 5) and Denmark (September 8) for their first matches since November’s 4-0 win over Kosovo.
However, Southgate faces a nervous wait over the weekend to see how many of his players will have to pull out of the squad due to COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Patient confidentiality means no Premier League clubs, nor the FA, have confirmed whether any England player has tested positive for the virus, but Sky Sports News confirmed earlier that a number of Chelsea players – including Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount – have been self-isolating as a precaution.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane is another who has been self-isolating following his return from a holiday in the Bahamas, also as a precautionary measure.
Wolves captain Coady, having played at England level up to Under 20s, has excelled under Nuno Espirito Santo over the past two seasons, making over 100 appearances as the club claimed two consecutive seventh-place finishes.
Meanwhile, Maitland-Niles receives his call-up just hours after a man-of-the-match performance for Arsenal against Liverpool in the Community Shield.
The pair could also end up being team-mates for the same club next season as well, with Wolves interested in signing 23-year-old Maitland-Niles and having a £15m bid rejected on Friday.
England reporter notebook: Life in Icelandic quarantine
Sky Sports News’ Rob Dorsett explains why he is already in Reykjavik to cover England’s Nations League clash against Iceland next Saturday…
I’ve never been to Reykjavik before, but have always wanted to come. I’m told it’s stunning. I’ve been here for more than 24 hours now – and I still don’t know.
The discussions started a few days ago – if we wanted to be out here to cover Iceland vs England first hand, we would have to travel early. Very early.
On August 19, the Icelandic Government introduced new coronavirus measures which dictated any foreign national entering the country had two options – self-isolate for 14 days on arrival; or face a COVID-19 test inside the airport, quarantine for 5-6 days, and then face a second test. Only if both tests are negative, is the international visitor allowed to go around the country freely.
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Wolves’ Conor Coady and Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles called into England squad
