ANTHONY Gordon says it's hard to put into words the delight of his first England call-up - and the forward has also handed Newcastle United a major boost by revealing his knee is "fine" after Monday night's injury scare at Chelsea.

Gordon was forced off in the first half at Stamford Bridge and admits he was full of panic in the immediate aftermath. But the injury settled quickly and the 23-year-old is now in contention to be involved in Saturday evening's FA Cup quarter-final tie at Manchester City.

After that game, Gordon will then link up with the England squad for the first time for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

"Words can't describe what it means to to be honest," said Gordon.

"It's what I've been working my whole life for, to get the call-up is incredible. I found out about an hour before training through a text message. I was just over the moon.

"It's been a really up and down and  weird couple of days. I was looking forward to the Chelsea game so much, I knew it was a big opportunity for me. Monday Night Football, two teams who are fighting each other, a big occasion and then in the game I picked up a slight injury which made me panic a lot at the time.

"When I had them feelings I was just praying it wasn't serious and thankfully for me it wasn't.

"The day after the game I came into training and it didn't feel bad at all, it hadn't swelled up. I was really confident then. I know my own body so I sort of knew in that moment I was fine."

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Southgate says Gordon's maiden England call-up is a reward for the forward's consistency for Newcastle.

Gordon now has the chance to impress Southgate in what is the last get-together before the England boss confirms his provisional squad for the European Championships.

Explaining his reasoning for selecting Gordon, Southgate said: “Consistently good performances. He was very close in November and he’s continued his form.

“He is scoring, his work for the team is excellent and he competes, so I really like his attitude.”

Newcastle's Kieran Trippier is, as expected, missing from the squad because of his calf injury and there was no place for Tino Livramento, despite his impressive displays for the Magpies.

Everton defender Jarrod Branthwaite, like Gordon, steps up to join the seniors for the first time, while there was also a place in the squad for Joe Gomez, who won the last of his 11 caps in October 2020.

There was, however, no place for Kalvin Phillips in Gareth Southgate’s last squad before making his Euro 2024 selection. Phillips has been dropped after a torrid run of form since he joined West Ham on loan in January.

The midfielder was at fault for a goal on his debut against Bournemouth before he was sent off at Nottingham Forest last month and hooked at half-time of Sunday’s 2-2 draw at home to Burnley.

Southgate said: “Well, I think he knows exactly what we think of him. A good version of him is an important player for us and that’s why we’ve supported him as we have.

“Unfortunately his form hasn’t been good enough and I’ve spoken to him about that. He understands.

“He has all the attributes to force his way back in. He just needs to find that rhythm and confidence because there is an outstanding player in there.”

Ivan Toney is back involved at the first opportunity after serving an eight-month Football Association betting ban, but Raheem Sterling was conspicuous by his absence once again.

Southgate revealed Arsenal defender Ben White would have been in the 25-man squad but has made himself unavailable for England selection.

“Clearly on form I can’t sit here and say he doesn’t deserve to be in,” Southgate explained.

“We had a call from Edu (Arsenal sporting director) last week (and he) said Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time.

“For me that is a great shame. He is a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him post-Qatar because I wanted to pick him.

“He is not available to us and there is no issue between us at all – and I also should say there is never any issue with (coach) Steve Holland, because that has been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that.”