Callum Hudson-Odoi has been promoted to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro despite the Chelsea winger having yet to start a Premier League game. The 18-year-old, who has played only 119 minutes of top-flight football, becomes the second member of England’s successful Under-17 World Cup side to make the step up to senior level. He had been due to make his debut for Aidy Boothroyd’s under-21s in the games against Poland and Germany. Instead, shortly after arriving at the juniors’ camp in Bristol, he was drafted into a senior set-up denied a quartet of players through injury and duly travelled to St George’s Park afternoon. “It’s been a crazy experience but getting my first [senior] international call-up is an amazing feeling,” said Hudson-Odoi. “I thought the manager [Boothroyd] was joking. I was shocked and then, when I heard I actually had to go over, I couldn’t believe it. I was delighted. It’s a dream come true. Now I’ve got to work hard, enjoy every moment and keep working to make an impact when I get the opportunity.” The youngster, a key member of an all-conquering Chelsea youth team, impressed through England’s junior set-up and scored two goals in seven appearances for the victorious under-17s at the 2017 tournament in India. He now joins his teammate at that event Jadon Sancho in graduating to Southgate’s full squad. Indeed, the sight of Sancho thriving with regular game time at Borussia Dortmund may have influenced Hudson-Odoi’s desire to move to Bayern Munich in January after the German club submitted three bids, the last worth around £35m, for his services. The forward’s current contract expires in 2020 and he even handed in a transfer request towards the end of the winter window in an attempt to force through a move to the Bundesliga. While he has offered no indication he is willing to negotiate new terms at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have far from given up hope of convincing him to stay. His elevation came on the day his club confirmed they had complained to Uefa after the teenager was allegedly subjected to racist abuse late on in the Europa League victory at Dynamo Kiev last week. Hudson-Odoi had started the tie at the Olympic stadium, scoring the visitors’ fifth goal – his fourth goal in Europe this season, and fifth in all competitions – only to find himself on the receiving end of monkey chants close to the final whistle in Chelsea’s emphatic victory. Uefa is expected to investigate those allegations. He joins West Ham United’s Declan Rice as an England uncapped player in the 23-man senior squad, though the latter made three appearances for the Republic of Ireland in friendly fixtures. Whether Hudson-Odoi’s surprise call-up is welcomed quite so warmly by the Chelsea head coach, Maurizio Sarri, is open to doubt given the Italian has regularly suggested over recent weeks that the expectations heaped on the winger are “dangerous”. Sarri has also spoken warmly of the youngster’s talent and potential but has preferred starting with the more experienced Willian or Pedro in wide areas in the league. “Callum is a phenomenal talent,” said Boothroyd, who hopes still to have Hudson-Odoi available for the summer’s European Under-21 Championship in Italy and San Marino. “You work really hard to get an opportunity as a player. You do the right things all the time and then you get an opportunity. When a door opens you have got to be able to walk through it. That’s what Jadon Sancho has done, that’s what Ben Chilwell has done, Joe Gomez and the rest. I’m sure he will get an opportunity and will show what he can do. Quick Guide Follow Guardian sport on social media Show Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Facebook: like our football and sport pages Instagram: our favourite photos, films and stories YouTube: subscribe to our football and sport channels Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images Europe Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. “He believes he should be at this level that he is playing at. He thinks he can get into the Champions League and that is a great place for a young player to be, to have that confidence. He has got a really bright future ahead of him, wherever he decides to go. He is buzzing, as you can imagine.” England have recalled the Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse for the games at Wembley and in Podgorica. The 24-year-old won his only senior cap for England in March 2017 but has been in excellent recent form at club level, scoring six goals in his last 10 appearances. Southgate has lost John Stones, Fabian Delph, Luke Shaw and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from his original selection, with all four nursing injuries. Jordan Henderson, who had sustained an ankle injury early on in Liverpool’s win at Bayern Munich and missed the Premier League leaders’ win at Fulham on Sunday, is expected to train at the national centre on Tuesday and should be available for selection.<doc-sep>England's EURO 2020 qualifiers get underway this week with their first clash against Czech Republic. Gareth Southgate's Three Lions will play a total of eight games in their qualifiers with two set for this month then the other six clashes starting from September onwards. Sportsmail provide you with everything you need to know for England's UEFA European Championship qualifiers including fixture dates, kick-off times and channel plus squad and whether they have qualified already for EURO 2020 finals. England will start their journey to Euro 2020 finals with their first qualifier match on 22 March Which group are England in? England are in Group A of the EURO 2020 qualifiers alongside Montenegro , Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Kosovo. The two teams to finish top of their group will automatically qualify for Euro 2020 finals. There are 10 groups meaning 20 teams will automatically qualify with the remaining four places coming from Nations League 2018/19 play-offs. Qualifying fixtures - Kick-off times and dates England vs Czech Republic - Friday 22 March - KO 7:45pm Montenegro vs England - Monday 25 March - KO 7:45pm England vs Bulgaria - Saturday 7 September - KO 7:45pm England vs Kosovo - Tuesday 10 September - KO 7:45pm Czech Republic vs England - Friday 11 October - KO 7:45pm Bulgaria vs England - Monday 14 October - KO 7:45pm England vs Montenegro - Thursday 14 November - KO 7:45pm Kosovo vs England - Sunday 17 November - KO 5pm How to watch? The first two out of eight England games for EURO qualifiers will be broadcasted live on ITV. The details of the broadcaster for the last six qualifiers will be named at a later stage. England vs Czech Republic - ITV Montenegro vs England - ITV England squad Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Jordan Pickford (Everton) Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Michael Keane (Everton), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City) Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) Have England already qualified for Euro 2020? No. England have already secured a spot in the Euro 2020 play-offs should they fail to qualify via the normal qualifying group stages after winning their UEFA Nations League group ahead of Spain and Croatia. In the scenario they fail to finish in the top two they will enter the play-offs. The play-offs are separated by each of the four leagues (A-D) of the Nations League having a path of its own. Each path will feature two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. The winner of each path will win a spot at Euro 2020. However, should England or one of the other Nations League group winners qualify via the normal route then their spot will go to the next best-ranked team in their league. If a league does not have four teams to compete, the remaining slots are allocated to teams from the league directly below, according to the overall UEFA Nations League ranking. This applies for the other 15 European teams to finish top of their Nations League group: Netherlands - League A Group 1 Winner Switzerland - League A Group 2 Winner Portugal - League A Group 3 Winner Ukraine - League B Group 1 Winner Sweden - League B Group 2 Winner Bosnia and Herzegovina - League B Group 3 Winner Denmark - League B Group 4 Winner Scotland - League C Group 1 Winner Finland - League C Group 2 Winner Norway - League C Group 3 Winner Serbia - League C Group 4 Winner Georgia - League D Group 1 Winner Belarus - League D Group 2 Winner Kosova - League D Group 3 Winner Macedonia - League D Group 4 Winner Why are England only playing four teams? England alongside Portugal, Switzerland and Holland have to be placed five-team groups to ensure they have free dates in June to play their Nations League finals. Nations League final fixtures: Semi-finals: Wednesday 5 June: Portugal v Switzerland - 7:45pm GMT Thursday 6 June: Netherlands v England - 7:45pm GMT Match for third place: Sunday 9 June: Guimaraes, 2pm GMT Final:<doc-sep>
England were at full strength as they stepped up preparations for the start of the European Qualifiers against the Czech Republic. All 23 players called up by Gareth Southgate were involved at St George's Park on Tuesday, with no injury concerns among those who made up his final squad. Southgate lost the services of Fabian Delph, John Stones, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Luke Shaw on Monday, calling up Callum Hudson-Odoi and James Ward-Prowse as replacements. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford worked in the gym with England's medical team feeling they had endured a tough workload over the weekend. Image: Tottenham stars Harry Kane and Deli Alli get stuck into training on Tuesday None of the trio are injury doubts for Friday's clash, Sky Sports News understands. Chelsea winger Hudson-Odoi and in-form Southampton midfielder Ward-Prowse worked with the rest of the squad, which was bolstered by Burnley youngster Dwight McNeil, who is in the U20 squad, and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, on loan at AFC Wimbledon from Bournemouth. Ross Barkley and Michael Keane only trained during the first half of the session before heading off to do individual work with England's training staff. 1:03 Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi reacts to his first call up with England's senior squad. Credit @England Twitter. England take on the Czech Republic at Wembley on Friday night in their opening qualifying match for Euro 2020 before heading off to Montenegro for their first away qualifier on Monday. The two games are Southgate's last international matches before June's Nations League finals in Portugal, where England take on the Netherlands for a place in the final.