Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has been recalled to the England squad for their forthcoming matches but Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood remains in exile after the pairs' coronavirus protocol breach.
Foden and Greenwood were sent home in disgrace after inviting local women into the bio-secure England team hotel following their international debuts in September's Nations League clash against Iceland in Reykjavik.
England manager Gareth Southgate left the youngsters out of his squad for October's matches as punishment and branded their behaviour in the midst of the pandemic as "unacceptable".
But Foden has since scored three times in six Premier League games, catching the eye with his impressive form for City.
The 20-year-old was rewarded with a recall by Southgate ahead of next week's friendly against the Republic of Ireland and the Nations League matches against Belgium and Iceland.
Greenwood was not so fortunate and the 19-year-old once again missed out on a place in the squad, despite the absence of injured Southampton striker Danny Ings.
"They don't come as a pair, they are individual players with their own strengths and individual talents," Southgate said about his decision to pick Foden and not Greenwood.
"Phil has had a lot of football with his club most recently and Mason has had less game time with United.
"I have had a good chat with [United manager] Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] about his development and I feel it is better for him to stay at the club at the moment, to develop over the next few months.
"But they are both available, there was no carryover from September, that is done. Both are available for selection and are going to be very good players."
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was recalled as expected after missing the October international break due to a minor hamstring injury.
Manchester United keeper Dean Henderson is the only uncapped player in Southgate's 29-man squad, with Jordan Pickford selected despite his poor form for Everton, which led to Robin Olsen replacing him in goal last weekend in their 2-1 defeat at Newcastle.
Southgate is adamant Pickford will stay as his first-choice keeper despite his spate of errors at Everton.
"When people say I have been loyal to him, he has deserved that. His performances have been excellent and that has not been a difficult decision for me," he said.
______________________________________________________________
England 0 Denmark 1: player ratings
-
ENGLAND RATINGS: Jordan Pickford – 5: Caught in no man’s land when he needlessly came out to edge of box in run-up to Walker giving away first-half penalty. Woeful late free kick that failed to make it past the first man when England needed ball pumped into box, summed up the Everton goalkeeper at the moment. AFP -
Kyle Walker – 6: One lovely cross-field ball to Phillips in first half but then failed to deal with header across the box from teammate Coady before giving away foul that resulted in penalty - which, to be fair to the Manchester City man, was harsh. Completely lost Wass in second half and was relieved to see Dane head over. Looked very uncomfortable when switched over to left-hand side. AFP -
Conor Coady – 8: Has settled straight into international football. Voice was always booming out around an empty Wembley Stadium. Perfectly timed tackle at near post to deny Dolberg almost certain goal in first half. Nearly scored his second goal for England but saw his header blocked in last minute. AFP -
Harry Maguire – 2: Awful challenge on Poulsen saw him booked after just five minutes, then rightly shown a red on half-hour mark for needless sliding tackle on Dolberg. Manchester United centre-half having a miserable start to season for club and country. Confidence now shot to pieces. AFP -
Reece James – 7: Excellent crosses into the box from the right in the first half which England failed to take advantage of. Great control and touch to set himself up in second half but his left-foot shot was straight at keeper. Had free-kick comfortably tipped over by Schmeichel. Blotted copy book with red card for dissent after final whistle. AP -
Kalvin Phillips – 5: Lost Dolberg from corner in first 10 minutes but recovered to deflect shot wide. Caught in possession by Eriksen with 15 minutes to go which almost helped gift Denmark a goal. Daft booking late on and, unlike Coady, has yet to convince on international stage. AFP -
Declan Rice – 6: Good ball into middle from deep to Mount in the penalty area on half hour that saw Chelsea midfielder set-up Kane with a chance. Sprayed a few good passes around but playing Rice alongside Phillips means England lack a creative edge in centre of the park. Getty -
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6: Arsenal man sacrificed in first half as England reshuffled their pack after Maguire red card and England lost only left-sided player. Getty -
Mason Mount – 6: Always busy and trying to make things happen, but final ball needs to improve. Must have thought he’d scored with a second-half header only for Schmeichel to produce wonder save. AP -
Marcus Rashford – 5: A couple of speculative shots from distance that didn’t trouble Schmeichel. Sloppily lost possession in first half sending Denmark on counter-attack but Eriksen wasted opportunity. AFP -
Harry Kane – 6: Half chance midway through but couldn’t find his feet to get shot away. Spurs striker not his usual attacking threat in opening period when James fired over several excellent balls that he would normally gobble up. Fine cross to set up Coady near the end but generally cut a frustrated figure up front. AFP -
SUBS: Tyrone Mings – (On for Maitland-Niles 36’) 6: Aston Villa player slotted confidently in the centre of defence after being called-on early doors due to Maguire’s horror show, although was lucky to get away with a couple of poor touches. Reuters -
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - (On for Rashford 72’) 5: Needed longer on pitch to make an impact. AFP -
Jadon Sancho - (On for Mount 73’) 5: Should have been brought on earlier to give England some attacking spark in midfield. AFP -
Jordan Henderson – (On for Rice 76’) N/A: Liverpool midfielder booked soon after coming on. AFP -
DENMARK RATINGS: Kasper Schmeichel - 8: Comfortable stop from long-range Rashford shot was the only time he had to make a save in opening half. First time he was seriously called into action, the Leicester man produced a fabulous one-handed stop to stop Mount scoring just after hour mark. PA -
Daniel Wass – 6: Full-back always looking to get forward down the right and take up attacking positions. Handed glorious chance to make it 2-0 in second half only to head over. PA -
Simon Kjaer – 7 Playing his 100th game for Denmark, centre-half gave away needless corner under no pressure in first half that England wasted. It was his long ball into box led to Denmark winning penalty. Vital block denied Coady late leveller. AP -
Andreas Christensen – 7: Some well-timed challenges and blocks by the Chelsea defender. Needless booking for hauling back Kane in first half that saw him substituted at the break as Danes looked to maintain their one-man advantage. PA -
Robert Skov – 6: Like Wass on opposite flank, was always looking to bomb forward from left-back in first half. Had decent game but was hooked at half-time. Getty -
Thomas Delaney – 6: Caught out by Mount down left early in game and was lucky Chelsea man couldn’t keep feet before crossing. Foul on Kane on edge of box handed great chance to England that they failed to capitalise on. Getty -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6: Booked for reckless kick on Spurs teammate Kane that will see midfielder banned for next Denmark game. Was constantly snapping away at English heels. PA -
Yussuf Poulsen – 7: Victim of really poor challenge by Maguire for England defender's first booking. Perfect low cross from right almost set-up Dolberg for early goal. Fired low shot straight at Pickford with 10 minutes left. A menace to England throughout and his theatrics helped get Phillips booked in second half. PA -
Christian Eriksen – 8: Inter midfielder, also earning his 100th cap, pulled the strings for Denmark. Blazed high and wide after 18 minutes when Denmark launched quick counter-attack. Made no mistake when he cracked home from the spot for his 34th international goal. Almost set up second for Sisto in second half. PA -
Martin Braithwaite – 5: Barcelona attacker failed to make his mark at Wembley and was well shackled by England. AFP -
Kasper Dolberg – 7: Had early chances; denied by Coady tackle once then had shot deflected into side netting by Phillips. Limped off in first half after challenge by Maguire that resulted in England man’s red card. Shame, as he had looked lively. AP -
SUBS: Pione Sisto – (on for Dolberg 37’) 5: Set up with great chance by Eriksen to make it 2-0 only to make right hash of shot. Getty -
Mathias Jorgensen – (On for Christensen 46’) 7: Helped keep England’s chances to a minimum. AFP -
Joakim Maehle - (On for Skov 46’) 6: No problems after coming on at left-back. PA -
Jannik Vestergaard - (On for Braithwaite 74’) 6: No chance to make impact. AP -
Mathias Jensen – (On for Hojbjerg 88’) N/A. AFP
______________________________________________________________
"We have some competition for places, but I would have to say that there is nobody who I think is challenging at the moment to push him out of that position."
Chelsea right-back Reece James and Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire are included after the pair were sent off as England lost 1-0 to Denmark in their previous match.
James was sent off for dissent after the final whistle against Denmark and Southgate warned him to learn from an incident that means he must serve a suspension.
"He has of course to learn from what happened at the end of that Denmark game. It is not acceptable and has cost him the opportunity to play in some of the qualifiers for us, but we were very impressed, as we have been with his club form," Southgate said.
Having selected a larger than normal squad due to England playing three games rather than two, Southgate said he was pleased with the opportunity to take a closer look at more players.
"Clearly managing the three games is a challenge, the friendly gives us another opportunity to find out about people, which we have done over the past few months," Southgate said.
"We are trying to balance not too big a squad on match days, but equally some boys would not normally have the opportunity to be with us.
"It is a good experience for us, we will learn a lot about the players and there are some good games to look forward to."
