SAMMY Ameobi last night received a surprise call-up to the England Under-21 squad for this week's matches against Iceland and Belgium, and Newcastle team-mate Dan Gosling will spend the next three days hoping he too is bumped up from his current position as standby.

Despite not even being named on the reserve list when Stuart Pearce announced his initial squad at the end of last week, Ameobi has been handed an unexpected opportunity at Under-21 level.

The 19-year-old striker replaces Sunderland's Connor Wickham, who has been forced to withdraw after injuring his knee in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Manchester United.

The call up follows a strong start to the season for the youngster, who has never previously featured in English representatives sides. Ameobi has made six senior substitute appearances this term, and scored a dramatic late winner in August's Carling Cup victory at Scunthorpe.

His elevation is easy to justify in purely footballing terms, particularly as the original Under-21 squad included Alex Nimely, who is not even making the Middlesbrough bench at the moment, but there is also a political element to Ameobi's involvement.

While the youngster was born in Newcastle, he is also eligible to represent Nigeria because of his parent's heritage. Indeed, earlier this year, he joined the Nigeria Under-20 squad for a number of training sessions in Turkey as they prepared for the African Youth Championships.

Even if Ameobi plays in either Thursday's home game with Iceland or next Monday's away game in Belgium, he will not be committed to representing England's senior side in the future.

However, the Football Association will no doubt be hoping that exposure to England's international set-up will make it easier for Ameobi to rebuff Nigeria's advances if they approach him again.

Sammy's brother, Shola, has recently been cleared by FIFA to play for Nigeria's senior side, but Sammy has always claimed he would prefer to play for England if the choice arose.

Gosling would also love to be representing his country this week, but at this stage the midfielder remains on the standby list.

That could change if further injury problems arise in the next 48 hours, and having made his first Premier League appearance of the season as a substitute in Saturday's 2-1 win over Everton, the Newcastle midfielder admits he is desperate to get some more game time under his belt during the international break.

"I'm on standby, so I'll be waiting by the phone in case Stuart Pearce decides he wants to ring me," said Gosling, who has won three previous caps at Under-21 level. "It would be great to be involved.

"It's always a privilege to play for your country, but from a personal point of view, I also need games so it would be nice to be involved. I haven't had too many games this year, so it would be good for me to go away and play in a couple of matches."

Despite joining Newcastle in the summer of 2010, Saturday's Premier League outing was only Gosling's third in a Newcastle shirt.

The midfielder was nursing a cruciate ligament injury when he left Everton to move to St James' Park, and his recovery has been hampered by a succession of setbacks.

To Newcastle's credit, they have resisted the temptation to rush him back ahead of schedule, but having finally recovered full fitness, Gosling now finds himself battling against a number of in-form midfielders who have leapfrogged him in the pecking order.

Last month, the former Plymouth trainee thought he might have to leave Tyneside on loan in order to play regular football. That might still turn out to be the case, but having impressed Alan Pardew with his efforts in the second half of Saturday's game, Gosling is hoping to be able to force himself into the first-team picture with Newcastle.

"It's hard to complain too much about not being in the side because the team have been playing brilliantly and you don't change a winning team," he said.

"There are a lot of young players in a similar position to me who go out on loan, and while I'm not ruling it out as an option, hopefully it wont come to that.

"If the situation hadn't changed, then maybe I would have looked down that route. But having come on at the weekend, hopefully that proves that I'm still in the managers thoughts and he wants my involvement."Hopefully, I can make it here without having to leave. It's just about trying to do your best every time you step out on to the pitch. If you do that, hopefully more chances will come."

* Newcastle reserves will begin the defence of their Northumberland Senior Cup title with a home game against Ashington on Tuesday, November 29.