Everton defender Coady named in England squad

Everton defender Conor Coady has been named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their Nations League double header against Germany and Italy later this month.

The 30-year-old has started all five matches for the Toffees since joining on loan from Wolves in August. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is not included as he continues his recovery from a thigh injury that is likely to keep him out until the start of next month.

Coady made the move to Goodison in order to secure regular first-team football and therefore boost his chances of making it into England’s World Cup squad for this winter’s tournament in Qatar.

The former Liverpool trainee has been a regular in Southgate’s squad since his first call-up in August 2020, earning 10 caps to date. He was part of the England squad that reached the Euro 2020 final and despite failing to make an appearance was praised for the impact he had on the squad behind the scenes.

That leadership was one of the reasons why Frank Lampard brought Coady to Goodison to help bolster a defence that wilted under pressure all too often last campaign.

Already Coady has shown signs of forming a solid centre-back partnership with James Tarkowski and was millimetres away from scoring his first Toffees goal against Liverpool earlier this month only to be denied by a marginal VAR offside decision.

When he does link up with England he will be joining a side in need of results if they are to avoid relegation from Group A of the Nations League. The Three Lions are bottom of their group having taken just two points from their opening four matches.

They are also England’s final two scheduled matches before their World Cup opener against Iran on 21 November.

They take on European champions Italy at the San Siro in Milan on 23 September before welcoming Germany to Wembley on 26 September.