Leicester City duo Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes named in England Under-21 squad
Gray is back in the England fold after missing the previous international break with an ankle problem - and returned to form with the winning goal at Cardiff last weekend
England U21's Demarai Gray during the U21 international friendly match at Molineux (Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)
Demarai Gray is back in the England Under-21 squad, along with Leicester City teammate Harvey Barnes.
Gray missed both games against Andorra and Scotland last month through injury, while Barnes gets his second call-up after an impressive loan stint at Championship side West Brom which saw him called up for October's internationals.
England will play two friendly games, with trips to Italy and Denmark.
"It's nice to have Demarai back with us because he's done really well and the competition for places is fantastic now," said head coach Aidy Boothroyd.
"We had Reiss (Nelson) joining us for the first time last month and Harvey Barnes has done a really good job too so I'm really pleased that we've got two players who have come up and shown us they mean business.
"It's great for the group because the standard is so high that it improves our training and everything else and you need that when you want to be successful - you need everybody fighting for a place."
Kieran Dowell and Harvey Barnes celebrate after the former's goal for England's Under-21s against Scotland (Image: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
England have already qualified for Euro 2019.
"They're two very good games for us this month, after we secured our qualification in October," said Boothroyd.
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"One of them is in Italy, where the Championship is taking place next summer and it will be a real test for us, but that's what we want.
"We can work on things that we might not necessarily have done in the qualifying games, which will help us towards competing against the best teams in Europe next summer.
"Denmark are a good side and they switch up things tactically and have a certain style in the way they play the game and they regularly qualify for the big tournaments so that'll be a tough one.
"We're looking forward to both matches, after coming out of a tough group ourselves."
Harvey Barnes in action for England's Under-21s (Image: Craig Watson/PA Wire)
Squad in full for games in Italy (Nov 15) and Denmark (Nov 20): Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Sheffield United, loan from Manchester United), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United)
Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Bristol City, loan from Chelsea), Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)
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Midfielders: Harvey Barnes (West Bromwich Albion, loan from Leicester), Lewis Cook (AFC Bournemouth), Tom Davies (Everton), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Josh Onomah (Sheffield Wednesday, loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa, loan from Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Ademola Lookman (Everton), Reiss Nelson (Hoffenheim, loan from Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool)
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