Two Liverpool players in Roy Hodgson’s England World Cup qualifiers squad

Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge have been included in the England squad for the forthcoming round of World Cup qualifiers.

Roy Hodgson has named the pair in his 23-man squad, but there is no place for Raheem Sterling or the injured Glen Johnson.

Sterling is instead named in the Under 21’s squad, alongside Andre Wisdom and Jack Robinson (currently on loan at Blackpool).

England face a crucial end to their World Cup 2014 qualification group next week when they face Montenegro at Wembley Stadium on Friday, October 11th, before the visit of Poland four days later.

England currently lead Group H by one point from Montenegro. Going into the final two games though, there are four teams in contention to qualify – England, Montenegro, Ukraine and Poland.

The full England squad for the two fixtures is:

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere.

Forwards: Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Daniel Welbeck.

Liverpool face Crystal Palace at Anfield on Saturday in their final game before the international break. The next game for Brendan Rodgers’ side sees them travel to Newcastle Utd on Saturday, October 19th – just four days after England’s game against Poland in London.