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England manager, Gareth Southgate has revealed that Reece James requested not to be called up for the upcoming international games.

James has been a regular for the Three Lions since making his debut back in 2020, and was even a part of the squad that reached the final of the 2020 European Championship.

The 23-year-old has however had to deal with a lot of injury concerns in recent seasons, and missed out of Southgate’s World Cup squad last year.

James picked up another bad injury at the start of the 2023-24 season, and continues to recover slowly, but surely, after playing in Chelsea’s last four matches.

According to Southgate, he wanted to include the Blues’ skipper in his plans for England’s upcoming matches against Malta and North Macedonia, but he was asked not to by the payer himself.

“There is [depth], I was hoping to call up Reece James but he doesn’t feel he’s quite ready,” Southgate said in his press conference.

“I understand that, he’s had a long path back from a number of injuries. He’s probably a bit cautious in that respect, but I can understand why.

“We have got options, but there aren’t perhaps the experienced options we might have in other areas of the pitch.

“Some of the younger full-backs are doing well – Tino Livramento has done well in his games for Newcastle, but being with the U21s is the right thing for him at the moment as well.”

James isn’t the only Chelsea star that is missing from England’s squad for the next international break; Raheem Sterling, who has played well this season, is also surprisingly missing.

Levi Colwill and Conor Gallagher, who made it to the last England squad, are however included in the latest Southgate list.