Sheffield Wednesday: George Hirst gets another England call

The 19-year-old’s latest call comes despite having played just twice for the Owls’ U23 side this season due to on-going wrangling over a new deal.

Prior to returning to the fold with the U23s earlier this month, Hirst’s only competitive minutes this term had come for England U19.

He has now featured twice U23s, scoring once, but a first team call has been ruled out by boss Jos Luhukay due to his contractual situation.

Hirst has been in a stand-off with Wednesday since last year after failing to agree a new deal that would have made him the highest paid player in his age group in the history of the club.

Though he was allowed to resume training earlier this month, he still looks set to leave the club at the end of the season.

England U19 will face Hungary (March 21), Latvia (March 24) and Macedonia (March 27) with all games taking place in Macedonia. A place in the European U19 Championship in Finland this summer is up for grabs.

Hirst has won three caps at U19 level for England, netting three goals. He has also been capped at U20 level, with four goals in five appearances.

England U19 squad

Goalkeepers

Ellery Balcombe – Brentford

Jamie Cumming - Chelse

Defenders

Trevoh Chalobah - Chelsea

Edward Francis - Manchester City

Reece James - Chelsea

Dujon Sterling - Chelsea

Japhet Tanganga - Tottenham Hotspur

Ben Wilmot - Stevenage

Midfielders

Flynn Downes - Luton Town (loan from Ipswich Town)

Elliot Embleton - Sunderland

Adam Lewis - Liverpool

Mason Mount - Vitesse Arnhem (loan from Chelsea)

Tristan Nydam – Ipswich Town

Joe Willock - Arsenal

Forwards

Ben Brereton - Nottingham Forest

Phil Foden - Manchester City

George Hirst - Sheffield Wednesday

Reiss Nelson - Arsenal

Edward Nketiah - Arsenal

Jadon Sancho - Borussia Dortmund