Antonio gets England call -
- (August 28 2016)
Sam Allardyce kicked off a new era for England by handing a first call-up to West Ham's Michail Antonio, but Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere have been given plenty to think about after being dropped.
Allardyce named his 23-man squad for the World Cup qualifier in Slovakia at 7.30pm on Sunday night, leaving players up and down the country with contrasting emotions.
Antonio, who only a couple of hours earlier had scored his second of the season in a losing cause against Manchester City, was overwhelmed by his unexpected selection but Barkley and Wilshere were left out in the cold.
In all there were five changes from Roy Hodgson's Euro 2016 squad, with Luke Shaw, Phil Jagielka, Danny Drinkwater and Theo Walcott all earning recalls.
Barkley was an unused squad member in France but, after two goals in his first four appearances this season, his omission was a surprise.
Wilshere had made just two appearances from the Arsenal bench and it is understood that he has been left out for a combination of footballing and fitness reasons.
The retired James Milner, the injured Ryan Bertrand and Marcus Rashford, who had already been named in the under-21 squad, were the others to drop out.
Explaining his decision to bring in 26-year-old Antonio, who progressed through the divisions for the best part of a decade before landing at West Ham last September, Allardyce told FATV: "I think he's in outstanding form. This is another lad with a great journey - it's a fantastic journey that he's been on, from non-league to now an international call-up.'
"Last year his impact on West Ham was only overshadowed by (Dimitri) Payet.
'He scored nine goals in his first season and he's a terrific athlete, a good crosser and a goal-scorer. I'm looking forward to him coming, and looking forward to meeting everybody.
'Hopefully we will have a good few days' preparation and get to know each other on the basis of trying to go and win in Slovakia."
Antonio, who only found out he had been called up after coming off the field at the Etihad Stadium, revealed he had rejected Jamaica earlier this year in a bid to keep his England ambitions alive.
"I'm overwhelmed. I got slightly emotional when I found out," he told West Ham TV.
"It's just one of those things that I've always dreamt of, playing for England, as a kid, so now for it to happen after I've worked my way from non-league to where I am now, I am just so happy.
"I turned down an approach from Jamaica in March and for this to happen so quickly, I'm buzzing, I just want to keep my feet on the floor."
That should not be too hard for a man who eight years ago was making his way with Tooting and Mitcham.
"All I can do is go out there on the international stage and show there is a reason why the gaffer has called me up," he added.
'I didn't think that it would happen this quick, but I always said to myself that if I could get into the Premier League and keep playing the way I do, hopefully I could get into the England squad."
The return of Manchester United defender Shaw was expected and he is now ready to resume his international career after making a successful return to action from the double leg break that sidelined him throughout the 2015/16 campaign.
Leicester title-winner Drinkwater was also widely tipped to win a place after becoming the last man to be cut from Hodgson's pre-Euro training squad.
Jagielka adds an extra central defensive option after missing the Euros, edging out the likes of Burnley's Michael Keane, Hull's Curtis Davies and Stoke's Ryan Shawcross, while Walcott may consider himself fortunate to be back already after a quiet start to the season with Arsenal.
Allardyce had already confirmed Joe Hart would be involved, despite his ongoing exile at Manchester City, with Fraser Forster and Tom Heaton also involved and Jack Butland not yet match fit.
No captain has been named, with Allardyce unlikely to nominate his chosen man until after the squad get together at St George's Park on Monday evening, but the previous incumbent Wayne Rooney is listed among the midfielders.
The country's record goalscorer played in central midfield in France but his United manager Jose Mourinho has called time on that experiment and Allardyce had been expected to follow suit.
John Terry's name was unsurprisingly absent.
Allardyce had refused to rule out contacting the retired former captain last week but it is understood that was never a realistic objective.
Elsewhere Manchester City's Fabian Delph was overlooked, as were previous Allardyce favourites Mark Noble and Jermain Defoe.
They proved tried and trusted performers for the 61-year-old at West Ham and Sunderland, respectively, but did not receive a call for the September 4 meeting in Trnava.
England squad to face Slovakia: Forster (Southampton), Hart (Man City), Heaton (Burnley); Cahill (Chelsea), Clyne (Liverpool), Jagielka (Everton), Rose (Tottenham), Shaw (Man Utd), Smalling (Man Utd), Stones (Man City), Walker (Tottenham); Alli (Tottenham), Antonio (West Ham), Dier (Tottenham), Drinkwater (Leicester), Henderson (Liverpool), Lallana (Liverpool), Rooney (Man Utd), Sterling (Man City), Walcott (Arsena); Kane (Tottenham), Sturridge (Liverpool), Vardy (Leicester).