Burnley centre-back Michael Keane has received his first England call-up after Stoke City's Glen Johnson withdrew from Gareth Southgate's 23-man squad because of injury. The 23-year-old defender is poised to link up with the squad on Tuesday (4 October), having previously represented the Three Lions at under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels.

Keane - who has featured in all of Burnley's Premier League games this season – has made an impressive start to the campaign and was widely expected to have been included in Southgate's original selection. The defender has previously made 16 appearances for the under-21s while Southgate was the manager between 2013 and 2016.

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The Manchester United youth team graduate is the second replacement player to have been added to Southgate's squad in two days, after Andros Townsend replaced injured winger Raheem Sterling. The 25-year-old Crystal Palace midfielder has played 11 times for his country and scored three goals, but missed out on selection for Euro 2016.

England are set to face Malta on 8 October and Slovenia three days later, having won their opening World Cup qualifier against Slovakia in September. Since then, Sam Allardyce has been replaced by Southgate, who is poised to lead England for their next four World Cup qualifiers.

The caretaker manager recently said he is relishing the prospect of leading the senior national team. "The role is an honour. It was a difficult position for the organisation and it was important to show leadership and get things in place to give the team the chance of winning," Southgate explained.

"As the week goes on I have thought about the honour it is to lead the team. I am looking forward to the challenge, in my view it is a wonderful job to have for whatever period of time. It is huge for my family and huge for everyone who has helped me in my career, everyone who has touched my career and helped me as a person will take enormous pride in seeing me take charge of the team."

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