Calvert-Lewin earns deserved call-up to England squad

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been rewarded for his fantastic start to the season with a first call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad.

Calvert-Lewin scored his second hat-trick of the season against West Ham on Wednesday to take his tally for the season to eight in just five appearances.

He will now link up with the senior Three Lions side next week for their friendly against Wales and Nations League tie with Denmark and Belgium.

The 23-year-old was rumoured to be close to a call-up in March before football was shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.

England boss Gareth Southgate said:

“He’s been in the pathway through the U21s, had a good season last season.

“A lot of Dominic’s game I’ve liked for a long time, what he’s adding now is the goals that haven’t always been there and in the last 18 months or so he has really improved in that area.

“He’s been a big part of Everton’s starting the season as well as they have and I’m very pleased to be able to call him up for the first time.”

He failed to score in nine games following the restart in June, which probably scuppered his chances of making the squad for last month’s games with Denmark and Iceland.

However, his fantastic start to the season made his inclusion almost a formality.

The striker was a regular for both the England U21 and U20 sides, famously scoring the winner in the 2017 U20 World Cup final.

He is joined in the squad by Michael Keane, who has enjoyed an equally fine start to the campaign, and Jordan Pickford.

Pickford’s form has been patchy of late, but he retained the faith of England boss Gareth Southgate for last month’s games and was rewarded with two clean sheets.