Palmer, Lewis and Konsa receive first England call-ups

Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Ezri Konsa have received their first England call-ups from Gareth Southgate.

The trio have been drafted into the Three Lions squad to face Malta and North Macedonia after James Maddison, Lewis Dunk and Callum Wilson all withdrew, with Jude Bellingham also likely to drop out.

Palmer, 21, has been rewarded for his sensational displays for Chelsea, which continued yesterday when he scored a stoppage-time penalty in a 4-4 thriller against former club Manchester City.

The Blues forward is not short of competition for a place in attack but his four goals in his first 10 games since his £40million move to Stamford Bridge makes him one of the Premier League's form players.

Palmer will be joined by fellow City academy graduate Lewis, with the 18-year-old becoming a regular under Pep Guardiola across the last two seasons.

It is also a first call-up at the age of 26 for Konsa after impressing in defence during Aston Villa's rise under Unai Emery.

The former Charlton and Brentford centre-back has played every minute of Villa's Premier League campaign so far which sees them flying high in fifth after 12 games.

With qualification for Euro 2024 already secured, the new faces will be hopeful of winning their first senior caps for the Three Lions.

All three have featured for England at youth level, with Palmer part of the side that won the European Under-21 Championship in the summer.

Konsa also has international success on his CV after lifting the U-20 World Cup in 2017.

England host Malta on Friday night at Wembley before travelling to face North Macedonia next Monday.