Four Man City players receive England call-ups as John Stones misses out

Manchester City defender John Stones will miss England's two fixtures in September as he continues to recover from a muscle injury.

Stones has not featured since the Community Shield for City, initially missing the Premier League opener at Burnley with a minor hip issue before suffering a muscular injury that has kept him out against Sevilla, Newcastle and Sheffield United. City expect him to be out until after the international break, including this weekend's visit of Fulham.

England have not risked Stones for their two fixtures against Ukraine and Scotland, while Kalvin Phillips has been selected after failing to feature in any of City's five competitive games this season so far.

Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Kyle Walker have kept their places in the squad as Gareth Southgate looks to move the Three Lions closer to qualification for next summer's European Championship in Germany.

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Victory over Ukraine would put England on 15 points from five games, nine ahead of the Ukrainians, who would have played four times. Italy have three points from two games, with two fixtures in September to try and overtake Ukraine in second place. England's fixture with Scotland is a friendly rather than a qualifier.

Southgate has stressed the importance of players selected for England duty playing regularly but has continued to select Phillips when fit despite his bit-part role for City.

Former City winger Raheem Sterling has been left out despite his productive start to the new campaign at Chelsea, while Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah earn call-ups for the first time.

Explaining his selection, Southgate said that Phillips was selected due to his positional ability, but