Southampton striker Graziano Pelle included in Italy squad for European Qualifier against Croatia

Southampton forward Graziano Pelle has been included in Italy coach Antonio Conte's 28-man squad for next week's European Qualifier against Croatia.

Pelle scored 12 goals in 38 Premier League appearances in his first season in England, and he also netted for Italy against Malta last October and against England in March.

Sunderland forward Emanuele Giaccherini, who was named in a preliminary squad and trained with the national squad this week, has been dropped from the squad for the qualifier and the friendly against Portugal four days later.

Ankle injuries limited Giaccherini to just eight Premier League appearances in the recent season.

Conte has rewarded forward Nicola Sansone with his first call up after a strong year with Sassuolo. The 23-year-old played in all but three Serie A games for Sassuolo, scoring five goals and setting up four more.

A total of six Juventus players have been included in Conte's squad. They will join the Azzurri on Sunday evening, following their involvement in the Champions League final against Barcelona.

Italy are second in the Euro 2016 qualifying Group H, two points adrift of Croatia. The teams are unbeaten heading into their top-of-the-table showdown in Split on June 12.

Italy squad: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Daniele Padelli (Torino), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris St Germain); Davide Astori (Roma), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Torino), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Sampdoria), Emiliano Moretti (Torino), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan); Andrea Bertolacci (Genoa), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Roberto Soriano (Sampdoria), Marco Verratti (Paris St Germain); Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Stephan El Shaarawy, Manolo Gabbiadini (Napoli), Ciro Immobile (Borussia Dortmund), Alessandro Matri (Juventus), Graziano Pelle (Southampton), Nicola Sansone (Sassuolo), Franco Vazquez (Palermo), Simone Zaza (Sassuolo).

Watch Croatia v Italy live via the red button on Sky Sports 5 on Friday June 12.