Kalvin Phillips reacts to England Euros place as former Leeds United loanee is placed on stand-by
Gareth Southgate's squad was confirmed at 5pm and Phillips, returning to fitness after a shoulder injury, joins West Ham United's Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson of Liverpool, who is also currently recovering from injury, in the defensive midfield options.
"An absolute honour and dream come true to be able to represent England at a major tournament like this," Phillips Tweeted.
"I’ll give it my all to make this country proud."
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Hide AdFormer Leeds loanee Ben White is part of Southgate's stand-by panel of players and could be involved in the friendly games before the tournament. England are keen to ensure their back-up players remain as prepared and fit as possible, in case injuries strike the main squad.
"We're here to play nine games," said Southgate.
"We already have some injury doubts in the group, I'm sure we'll face other difficulties, we need adaptability, good players, professionals, tacticall savvy players. We're fortunate to have old and young players who fit those categories.
"All of the players here [in the provisional squad] will be on that stand-by list. They will be the stand-by players, if we have any injuries. We can only change now on the basis of injuries.
"They will be training with us and involved in the matches. We want to get them into the games, not only because if we have an issue they need to be ready, but because they deserve it.
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Hide Ad"Their commitment to be here shows what it means to play for England. Sometimes dismiss the importance of Eng caps and what it means to players. This group is incredible in that regard.
"I gave [the stand-by players] the option if they didn't want to stay, to go home, but they were all adamant they value being with England and want to be part of the squad. We still have two matches to play, which they will be involved in. If we pick up injuries, things can change very suddenly."
The Three Lions take on Austria tomorrow night at the Riverside Stadium, before their final pre-tournament warm-up against Romania on Saturday.