England coach Gareth Southgate named four uncapped players in his squad Thursday for this month's friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy.
Burnley duo Nick Pope and James Tarkowski, Swansea's Alfie Mawson and Bournemouth's Lewis Cook were included in a 27-man squad for the game in Amsterdam on March 23 and the Italy match at Wembley four days later.
Cook, an England under-21 midfielder, was called up for the friendly against Brazil last November but didn't play.
"All of the guys with us are in the running for the 23 going to the World Cup but there are also some others who aren't available this month (due to injury)," Southgate said. "Harry Kane is one of those, Phil Jones is one, as are Fabian Delph and Ruben (Loftus-Cheek)."
Liverpool midfielders Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana are back after injury while Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was recalled for the first time since the 2016 European Championship defeat against Iceland.
"He wasn't playing regularly at club level," Southgate said of Wilshere. "(But) he's now playing in the bigger matches for Arsenal and has had some good performances."
Pope has filled in admirably for injured goalkeeper Tom Heaton at Burnley this season while central defenders Tarkowski and Mawson have also excelled.
Southgate omitted center backs Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling and Michael Keane. He said it had been "a very difficult call" to drop Cahill, who has captained England before, and left open the possibility of the Chelsea player returning for the World Cup in Russia in June.
"We want to learn things from the (friendly) games about individual players and also get back reconnected with how we train, how we work and how we play because we're only 90 days away from the first game of a World Cup," Southgate said.
England
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (West Ham), Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Kyle Walker, John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose (Tottenham), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Alfie Mawson (Swansea)
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Dele Alli (both Tottenham), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (all Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Jake Livermore (West Bromwich)
Forwards: Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
Southgate says England should go to World Cup in Russia
England coach Gareth Southgate says his team should go to the World Cup despite Russia being blamed for poisoning a former spy in Britain.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered politicians and royals not to attend the World Cup after former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious after being exposed to a nerve agent.
But the government has not ordered the national soccer team to boycott the June 14-July 15 soccer tournament.
Southgate says it's a "serious matter" and "developing very quickly." But based on the briefings he has received, he says "we are preparing to go to the World Cup. There is no doubt in my mind that is what we should be doing."
England's World Cup campaign opens against Tunisia on June 18 in Volgograd.