Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jarell Quansah called up to England squad for qualifiers

AC Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah have been called up to the England squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.

Loftus-Cheek and Quansah will join Thomas Tuchel’s group for the double-header after Adam Wharton withdrew due to a groin injury suffered in Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Loftus-Cheek returns to the England fold for the first time in six years, with his last call-up coming in March 2019.

He has won 10 caps, the last of which was against the United States in November 2018, but is known to Tuchel having played under him at Chelsea.

Quansah, who swapped Liverpool for Leverkusen in the summer, is uncapped but has been in several squads before.

Wharton limped off during the second half of Palace’s excellent win at Villa Park and boss Oliver Glasner ruled him out of the international camp during his post-match press conference.

Loftus-Cheek and Quansah joined 23 other players in reporting for duty at St George’s Park on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s Group K match against Andorra at Villa Park and next week’s crunch clash in Belgrade against Serbia.

Tuchel pushed back the meet-up by 24 hours for any players involved in transfer deadline day experiencing “mixed emotions”.

Defender Marc Guehi was the only player affected as his protracted move to Liverpool fell through after his club Crystal Palace could not secure a replacement.