Raheem Sterling withdraws from England squad with injury as Andros Townsend called up in his place

RAHEEM STERLING has withdrawn from the England squad with injury and Andros Townsend has been called up in his place.

The winger was withdrawn at the closing stages of Manchester City's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham and was replaced by Leroy Sane by Pep Guardiola.

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Instead Townsend has been called up - looking to make good on the 11 caps the Crystal Palace winger already has.

Interim England boss Gareth Southgate named his squad on Sunday evening for the Three Lions' next two World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.

Southgate will want to get two wins against sides England should usually take care of on paper - but after the Sam Allardyce controversy the task is anything but straightforward for the former Middlesbrough boss.

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Townsend, 25, has played regularly for Palace since joining from Newcastle over the summer.

The journeyman footballer was one of ex-boss Roy Hodgson's heroes during the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup as he scored and created some crucial goals for England to set them on the road to failure in Brazil.

Southgate was given stick for including right-back Glen Johnson in the squad - but he said it was necessary.

He said: "We have lost Clyne in our squad so to bring in a player with 50-plus caps was something we felt was the right decision."

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