Rashford, Mount and Pope out of England squad as Forster gets call-up

Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Nick Pope have pulled out of the England squad.

Fraser Forster, 35, has been handed a call-up to replace Newcastle No1 Pope as Gareth Southgate's Three Lions prepare to face Italy and Ukraine.

No further replacements are expected with 23 players reporting to St George's Park today ahead of the clash with the Azzurri in Naples on Thursday.

Rashford, 25, picked up a knock in Manchester United's comeback win over nine-man Fulham in the FA Cup quarter-finals, while 30-year-old Pope was crocked during Toon's 2-1 triumph over Nottingham Forest.

Mount, 24, has missed Chelsea's last four games with a pubic bone injury and will continue his rehabilitation in West London.

Blues chief Graham Potter raised questions about his inclusion in the group last week.

He said: "He’s never been available as far as I’m aware.

"He wasn’t going to be available for us at the weekend. He needed a bit of time for his injury to settle down which pretty much ruled him out of England."

After they kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign in Italy, England welcome Ukraine to Wembley in what is likely to be an emotional occasion given the ongoing war in the visitors' homeland.

Southgate is aiming to lead England to a fourth successive major tournament having been beaten 2-1 by eventual runners-up France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.