England stars arrive at St. George's Park ahead of March internationals

Gareth Southgate 's England squad have arrived at St George's Park ahead of the March international fixtures against Switzerland and Cote d'Ivoire at Wembley Stadium.

There are a number of first-time call-ups to the squad, including Tyrick Mitchell and Kyle Walker-Peters. The pair were recent additions to Southgate's squad following the withdrawal through injury of defensive duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James.

England have already qualified for the World Cup after finishing top of their group. However, the upcoming friendlies will allow the manager to get a closer look at some of the younger and newer call-ups... as well as some of the more senior players who have had a difficult time of things at club level.

Mitchell and Walker-Peters are among the first-time call-ups, along with the former's Crystal Palace teammate Marc Guehi. While centre-back Guehi and full-back Walker-Peters have represented their country at age-group level, a debut in the coming week would be Mitchell's first England appearance of any kind.

The other late additions to the squad were Sam Johnstone - who celebrates his birthday the day before the Switzerland game - and Ollie Watkins. Johnstone has been called up after an injury to Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale, while Roma striker Tammy Abraham has made way for Watkins.

England will host Switzerland at Wembley on March 26. The second of the two upcoming internationals is due to take place three days later, also at the national stadium.

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Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford are also both in the mix, despite some questions over their form this term. There were calls for Pickford to lose his England starting spot to Ramsdale before the Arsenal man's injury, while Maguire's future for club and country has been up for debate after a difficult spell with Manchester United.

Maguire scored an own goal in Man Utd's recent victory over Tottenham Hotspur and was substituted during the club's Champions League exit, prompting calls for him to surrender the club armband. However, Southgate has stood by the former Leicester City man.

"I don't think it ever crossed our minds not to select Harry Maguire for this squad," the 51-year-old said. "He's been a key part of the starting XI that got us to a World Cup semi-final and a Euros final. There's no doubt in my mind that he's one of our best centre-backs."

A number of other members of the squad which reached the final of Euro 2020 have made the cut, including in-form Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka and Manchester City trio Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and John Stones. However, there has been no room for Manchester United teammates Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

"There are other attacking players in our squad who are ahead of him in our opinion," Southgate said. "Jadon in the last few weeks his performances have improved but it is an area of the pitch where we have competition for places,

"With Marcus, he is in the same position as everyone else, whether they are in the squad or not they all have to play well in the next period, it is a difficult time for him, he is clearly not at his best. There is plenty of time, we know about Marcus, we know what he can bring to us."