International decision made on forward - provides more clarity on Sheffield Wednesday fixture
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Harry Gray has not been included in the England Under-19s squad for their upcoming games.
The Young Lions have three European Championship qualifiers against Slovenia, Belarus and Austria, starting on November 11. Gray, who was called-up in the last international break, was expected to be involved but has missed out. It remains to be seen whether that is because of injury or a selection-based decision.
Gray’s omission means there is more chance of The Owls’ League One home fixture against Plymouth Argyle going ahead because they won’t have three or more players on international duty who meet the criteria to request a postponement. Kieran Morrison has been called-up by Northern Ireland and counts towards the three. But Jordi Liongola, Sean Fusire and Will Grainger have not played enough first-team minutes this season so they don’t count. Yan Valery could be called-up by Tunisia. But Iraq international Ali Al-Hamadi is injured.
Gray, on a season-long loan from Leeds United, has made 11 appearances in total this season. He scored his first goal for Wednesday against AFC Wimbledon last month.
When speaking to the media on Thursday, Owls boss Dave Challinor may have been made aware that Gray was going to be left out of England’s ranks as he spoke with some expectation that the Pilgrims clash would go ahead. The club has also put tickets on sale for the game which would be Challinor’ first league match in charge since being appointed manager.
Challinor said: “There's still, I suppose, a little bit of uncertainty around the Plymouth fixture, but at the minute that looks like going ahead. At the moment, that's where we're at. We'll learn more today, and we'll learn more over the weekend. Because even within the squads that have been picked, if there are players that are on standby lists, if someone picks up an injury and drops out, then they might well be called-up up. So, at the minute, we're preparing and we're prepared in terms of our schedule for next week, that the game will go ahead on Saturday.”