JASON STEELE has been rewarded for his solid return to the Middlesbrough first team with an England Under-21s recall.

The Boro goalkeeper is one of three players from North-East clubs to have been called up by manager Stuart Pearce for the European Championships qualifiers with Iceland and Belgium.

But Steele, who returned from a serious wrist bone injury four matches ago, will not be joined by team-mate Joe Bennett, who is included on the stand-by list.

Manchester United duo Danny Welbeck and Phil Jones have been omitted from the squad, with appearances for the senior team likely in the next fortnight.

Pearce, whose side have made a 100 per cent start to the Group Eight campaign, will also be without injured West Ham midfielder Henri Lansbury in the 25-man group for the matches on Thursday, November 10 in Colchester and Monday, November 14 in Mons, Belgium.

He has called up five new faces in Crystal Palace's Nathaniel Clyne, Brighton's Lewis Dunk, Barnsley's Jacob Butterfield, Tottenham's Tom Carroll and Middlesbrough's on loan Alex Nimely, who is contracted to Manchester City.

They join Sunderland's Connor Wickham in the ranks, while Newcastle midfielder Dan Gosling is also on stand-by.

Pearce, whose side followed an opening home win against Azerbaijan with victories away to Iceland and Norway, said: "We would have taken four points from those before the game so to come back with six out of six is a fantastic achievement, especially when you consider the adversity that led into the Norway game with three players picking up injuries.

"But there were no excuses and it really galvanised the group. Their attitude is fantastic and in this clutch of players we have some very solid individuals who have a great approach and a great attitude. I was impressed with them all.

"We're fortunate that we got two tricky away games out of the way, but we have to maximise that at home and make sure there are no slip-ups. With only one team certain of a place in the play-offs, dropping any points in the group puts you under real pressure."

England Under-21s squad: Amos (Manchester United), Butland (Birmingham), Steele (Middlesbrough), Baker (Aston Villa), Bennett (Peterborough), Briggs (Fulham), Clyne (Crystal Palace), Dawson (West Brom), Dunk (Brighton), Flanagan (Liverpool), Kelly (Liverpool), Smith (Tottenham) Barkley (Everton), Butterfield (Barnsley), Carroll (Tottenham), Gardner (Aston Villa), Henderson (Liverpool), Lowe (Blackburn), McEachran (Chelsea), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Rodwell (Everton), Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Nimely (Manchester City), Sordell (Watford), Wickham (Sunderland).

Standby list: Bennett (Middlesbrough), Rudd (Norwich), Shelvey (Liverpool), Townsend (Tottenham), Gosling (Newcastle).