Versatile Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph has been included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for upcoming matches against Lithuania and Slovenia, the Football Association has announced.
England will complete their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign at the start of next month and Delph has earned a recall to the squad, having last turned out for the Three Lions in a 2-0 defeat to Spain in November 2015.
Delph has struggled for game time since leaving Aston Villa to join City in the summer of 2015 but turned down the chance to move to Stoke over the summer in order to fight for his place under Pep Guardiola.
The gamble appears to have paid off after battling into contention in the last month, which has culminated in a return to the international scene with England.
Delph, who has played at left-back for City this season, scored a wonderful goal in their 5-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend before securing a place in the Champions League Team of the Week with a rating of 8.27 against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
City have a far superior win ratio in the Premier League without Delph in the starting XI (59.7%) compared to his 10 starts since joining (40%).
