Thursday 3 November 2016 15:22, UK
Interim England U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd has handed first call-ups to Tottenham's Harry Winks and Swansea's Alfie Mawson, as the countdown to Euro 2017 begins.
England secured qualification for next summer's tournament in Poland after Boothroyd guided them to victories over Kazakhstan and Bosnia last month.
They will now host Italy at St Mary's on November 10 before travelling to Bondoufle to play France on November 14 in a pair of friendlies.
Midfielder Winks has been selected in the 23-man squad, having made seven appearances for Spurs this season, while defender Mawson has played twice for Swansea since joining from Barnsley in the summer.
Southampton's Nathan Redmond has enjoyed a great start to the season and is included in the U21 squad once again, with interim senior boss Gareth Southgate apparently wary of upsetting the dynamic of the squad ahead of their bid for European Championship glory.
The Euro 2017 draw takes place on December 1 and Boothroyd says preparations are already at an advanced stage.
He said: "As soon as the final whistle went against Bosnia in Walsall last month we were already thinking about the preparations for next summer and trying to make sure we finish off the year with two more good performances.
"This is what we want, to test ourselves against these sort of nations."
England U21 squad:
Gunn (Manchester City), Mitchell (Derby), Pickford (Sunderland), Chambers (Middlesbrough, loan from Arsenal), Galloway (West Brom, loan from Everton), Hause (Wolves), Holding (Arsenal), Iorfa (Wolves), Mawson (Swansea), Stephens (Southampton), Baker (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), Chalobah (Chelsea), Grealish (Aston Villa), Hayden (Newcastle), Hughes (Derby), Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Swift (Reading), Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Winks (Tottenham), Abraham (Bristol City, loan from Chelsea), Gray (Leicester), Redmond (Southampton), Watmore (Sunderland)
