Bowen and Watkins earn England recalls as Ward-Prowse misses out

Gareth Southgate has brought in-form forwards Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins back into his England squad.

The pair will hope to feature in the Three Lions' upcoming Wembley double-header, with a friendly against Australia next Friday followed by a crunch Euro 2024 qualifer with Italy four days later.

West Ham ace Bowen has made a hot start to the season with five goals in his opening seven Premier League outings and will hope to add to the four caps he earned in last summer's Nations League fixtures.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa striker Watkins clearly caught Southgate's eye with his hat-trick against Brighton last weekend and returns to the fold for the first time since March 2022.

On the inclusion of Watkins, Southgate said: "Callum Wilson is carrying an injury and we were not certain he would be available. 

"Ollie has started the season well — he's hit a bit of scoring form in the last couple of weeks. You do have to be careful with that because you can't just go on recency bias with selection. 

"But he is in good form and obviously coming in on a high and he's been with us before so we know his character, his personality. He is a good guy around the group.

"His team are playing well and he's playing for a team that are really well coached and they are in a good moment."

Full-backs Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell are notable absentees through injury, as is Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze with a hamstring issue.

Bukayo Saka is still included after limping off in Arsenal's Champions League loss at Lens on Tuesday, while Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips both retain their spots despite limited action at club level.

There is no room for Raheem Sterling or James Ward-Prowse but John Stones does return after returning to Manchester City training.

Full England squad to face Australia and Italy:

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace)

Defenders: Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Levi Colwill (Chelsea),  Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)

Forwards: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Manchester City), James Maddison (Tottenham), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)