ANTHONY Gordon remains in contention for an England call-up today - with the injury the Newcastle United forward suffered at Chelsea on Monday not as bad as first feared.

Gordon's hopes of being included in Gareth Southgate's squad for this month's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium looked to be over when he was forced off at Stamford Bridge - with head coach Eddie Howe admitting his concern after the game.

At that stage, it was feared Gordon could miss a large chunk of the rest of Newcastle's season.

But the injury isn't as bad as first feared and there are even hopes Gordon could return to training in the coming days. While Saturday's game at Manchester City could well come too soon, Newcastle will still be delighted by the positive developments in recent days.

Gordon is now playing the waiting game to discover whether he's in the England squad, which will be announced at 2pm today. England coaches have reportedly been in touch with Newcastle staff in recent days to get an update on the injury.

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This is the last camp before Southgate names his provisional squad for the European Championships just after the Premier League season concludes, with the final selection to be submitted to UEFA on June 8.

Southgate has headaches to contend with in the goalkeeper and left-back department.

Kieran Trippier looks set to miss March’s fixtures, while versatile defender Levi Colwill’s toe complaint could rule him out as well.

Man United boss Erik ten Hag does not expect Luke Shaw to be back fit until May and Chelsea have announced Ben Chilwell is “undergoing specialist medical assessment” on a knee complaint.

Rico Lewis made his bow at left-back and was named man of the match in November’s debut display in North Macedonia, but he has only made four Manchester City appearances in 2024.

Joe Gomez, who won the last of his 11 England caps in 2020, is pushing for a recall having done brilliantly at left-back for Liverpool, while talented Newcastle full-back Tino Livramento has impressed.

Reece James remains out and in-form Ben White has been overlooked since leaving the 2022 World Cup squad.

Marc Guehi has been dealing with a knee injury, but fellow centre-back Harry Maguire should be involved and Eric Dier has made an impressive start to life at Bayern Munich.

Jarrad Branthwaite has also staked a claim with his fine displays at Everton, whose goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is the only definite selection among the shot-stoppers.

Aaron Ramsdale has made just two appearances for Arsenal in 2024 and Sam Johnstone has only recently returned to the Crystal Palace starting line-up.

Nick Pope is out with a dislocated shoulder and Southgate has been keeping a close eye on Jack Butland’s performances at Rangers.

Kalvin Phillips will be hoping he has enough credit in the bank to earn a call-up despite a disastrous start to life at West Ham.

The selection of Jordan Henderson, another of Southgate’s favourites, has been another major talking point in the build up to the Euros after he joined Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ettifaq, but has now returned to Europe, signing for Ajax in January.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, seen as a midfielder by Southgate, has been out for a month due to a knee issue, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley knocking on the door, while Tottenham playmaker James Maddison is fit again.

Kobbie Mainoo has been tipped in some quarters for a call-up after bursting onto scene impressively at Manchester United, but the 18-year-old could instead join up with the Under-21s.

United team-mate Marcus Rashford has been less impressive and has hot competition in his area of the field, although Jack Grealish is set to miss out this time due to a groin injury.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney is pushing to be involved after the one-cap player returned to action in January having completed his Football Association ban for breaching betting rules.