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International Football Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly has received his first England call-up after Chelsea captain Reece James withdrew from Thomas Tuchel’s squad due to an injury. James, 25, had medical assessments after Chelsea’s win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated the issue was minor and the decision to withdraw was precautionary given the number of significant spells out with hamstring problems the full-back has had over the past two seasons. Advertisement He has been replaced by O’Reilly, 20, for England’s friendly against Wales and World Cup qualifier against Latvia. “The Chelsea captain sustained an injury playing for his club over the weekend and has been ruled out of England’s October internationals following medical assessments, ” an FA statement read on Monday. James played the full 90 minutes in Chelsea’s victory, starting the game at right-back before playing centre-back for most of the second half. James had emerged as Tuchel’s first choice right back ahead of Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is out injured, and scored his first international goal in their win over Latvia in March. His appearance in the 3-0 win against Latvia was James’ first start for England in more than two years after multiple injury issues. James also started in England’s dominant 0-5 win away to Serbia on September 9. He was the only Chelsea representative in Tuchel’s latest England squad, which also included several high-profile exclusions. Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham was left out, as was Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Everton loanee Jack Grealish, despite a return to form. It is the first time O’Reilly has been called up to the England senior squad and he will move across from the Under-21s, where he was initially selected by Lee Carsley for their games against European Championship qualifiers Moldova and Andorra. O’Reilly has started City’s last seven games in all competitions after breaking through in Pep Guardiola’s team last season. He has primarily been used as a left-back in the first team, having played as a central midfielder in youth football. Tuchel’s squad will play Wales in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Thursday before travelling to Riga for their World Cup qualifier against Latvia on October 14. England have a 100 per cent record in Group K — winning all five matches — and have a seven-point cushion over second-placed Albania. Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City) Advertisement Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City) Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) (Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
