Preston striker David Nugent has been called up to replace injured Charlton forward Darren Bent for the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers. If Nugent plays on Saturday he would become the first outfield player from outside the top flight to play for England since Michael Gray in 1999.

 

Nugent is the first Preston player to have been called into an England squad since winger Tom Finney was in 1958.

 

Earlier on Monday Aston Villa's Gareth Barry was also drafted into the squad.

 

Nugent's call-up is remarkable given he was playing for Bury only two years ago.

 

The Preston striker has called 16 goals this season, having notched 11 goals during the previous campaign.

 

Barry had been left out of the original party but earned a reprieve after Manchester United's Gary Neville was ruled out because of an ankle injury.

 

Manchester City defender Micah Richards has an ongoing calf problem.

 

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and Everton's Phil Neville will also be competing for the left-back slot.

 

Barry received his first call-up for nearly four years when England played Spain in a friendly in February and played for most of the second half.

 

However, despite Ashley Cole's suspension for the game against Israel and an injury to fellow left-back Wayne Bridge, the 26-year-old was initially dropped for the games against Israel and Andorra.

 

The decision was criticised by Villa boss Martin O'Neill.

 

Richards will join up with the squad on Tuesday and is calf problem will be assessed.

 

Old Trafford captain Neville picked up an ankle injury against Bolton on Saturday and is set to be sidelined for three weeks.

 

There was good news for England coach McClaren when Steven Gerrard was given the all-clear, despite limping out of the draw at Aston Villa.

 

However, the England boss could lose other players to injury after Monday's FA Cup ties, with Manchester United facing Middlesbrough and Tottenham taking on Chelsea.

 

McClaren confirmed to BBC Five Live Sport ahead of Sunday's Premiership matches that he may have to change his squad because of injury concerns.

 

He said: "Thirteen players are playing on Monday and the squad could change by Tuesday."

 

England squad:

 

Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd, on loan at Watford), Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Charlton).

 

Defenders: Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Woodgate (Real Madrid, on loan at Middlesbrough), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Chelsea), P Neville (Everton), Barry (Aston Villa).

 

Midfielders: Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Parker (Newcastle), Carrick (Man Utd), Dyer (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).

 

Forwards: Johnson (Everton), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), Bent (Charlton).

 

Israel squad:

 

Goalkeepers: Dudu Aouate (Deportivo Coruna), Nir Davidovich (Maccabi Haifa), Shavit Elimelech (Hapoel Tel Aviv).

 

Defenders: Tal Ben Haim (Bolton Wanderers), Arik Benado (Beitar Jerusalem), Shimon Gershon (Beitar Jerusalem), Yoav Ziv (Beitar Jerusalem), Tomer Ben Yosef (Beitar Jerusalem), Yuval Shpungin (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Yigal Antebi (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Dani Bodarv (Hapoel Tel Aviv).

 

Midfielders: Yossi Benayoun (West Ham United), Walid Badir (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Salim Toamah (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Gal Alberman (Beitar Jerusalem), Yaniv Katan (Maccabi Haifa) Idan Tal (Bolton Wanderers), Omer Golan (Maccabi Petah Tikva).

 

Forwards: Elyaniv Barda (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Amit Ben Shushan (Beitar Jerusalem), Pini Balili (Sivaspor), Roberto Colautti (Maccabi Haifa), Toto Tamuz (Beitar Jerusalem), Ben Sahar (Chelsea).

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6462361.stm

Get Milner in there man. He's better than Lennon.

I don't get why theres so much fuss about Nugent rather than say, Chopra at Cardiff, i mean Chopras got half a dozen more goals this season, is the same age and has Premiership experience, I'll admit I've only seen brief glimpses of Nugent but i'm not really sure why he's in this squad

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If Nugent's there, so should Lita

Where's the Euro 2008 thread got to???