Jadon Sancho leads new faces as England stars gather

There were fresh faces aplenty at St George's Park on Monday afternoon as four men stepped through the doors as senior England players for the first time.

Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, James Maddison and Lewis Dunk all arrived ahead of the upcoming international break after each earning a call-up to Gareth Southgate's squad.

They will be hoping to impress Southgate enough in training in order to earn some gametime in Nations League ties against Croatia and Spain. Having lost opening fixture against the Spaniards, England need to be on top form to stay in contention.

Sancho stands an excellent chance of being involved in at least one of the games. He has been in sensational form for Borussia Dortmund this season, assisting six goals and scoring one in just 215 minutes of play.

The 18-year-old arrived with fellow Bundesliga star Reiss Nelson. The Hoffenheim winger, on loan from Arsenal, has earned his first call-up to the Under-21 squad following his performances in Germany.

Mount was close behind his fellow England stars and arrived with a beaming smile across his face. The midfielder has been thoroughly impressive for Derby County in the Championship this season, where he is on loan from Chelsea.

The same can be said of Leicester star James Maddison. A £25million summer arrival from Norwich, Maddison has been the star of the show in an otherwise indifferent start to the season for the Foxes.

The 21-year-old has scored three goals and created a further two in eight Premier League appearances.

Dunk's arrival in England's Staffordshire base completed a whirlwind 24 hours for the Brighton defender after he was called up on short notice following the withdrawal of James Tarkowski through injury. Dunk, 26, also signed a new long-term contract with the Seagulls earlier this week.

Ben Chilwell was also called up to the England squad on Monday evening after Luke Shaw withdrew through injury. The Leicester full-back made his debut for England against Switzerland at the King Power last month and returns to the squad after Shaw sustained a hefty blow to his leg in Manchester United's win over Newcastle.

Another notable call-up was that of Ross Barkley, who returns to the squad more than two years after his last England appearance, which came against Australia in May 2016.

Southgate and his young squad will be aiming to get England's Nations League challenge back on track following a 2-1 defeat by Spain at Wembley last month.

Further defeats in Rijeka and Sevilla would almost certainly see their chances of finishing top of the group come to an end while also inviting the prospect of being relegated to the second tier of the competition.

England would have been expecting a hostile atmosphere in Croatia, but they will instead be met with empty stands. The World Cup runners-up have been punished by UEFA after a swastika was daubed on the pitch before a game against Italy in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

But Southgate, who signed a four-year contract with the Football Association to take him to the end of the 2022 World Cup this week, said he would prefer the jeers of opposing fans than the echoes of a deserted arena.

'It'll be the first time I've ever been in a game like that. It will be a very different feel,' said Southgate. 'In some ways, I'd have liked our players to experience going there with the stadium bouncing and Croatia reminding us what happened in the summer. I could then tell them to go and deal with it, but we haven't got that opportunity.

'But I still think the lads will know they are playing for England. We have to apply ourselves in the right way. The quality of the opponent is really high so we will have enough of a challenge. My preference would be for a full stadium but that isn't the case so we adapt.'