Roy Hodgson has named Ryan Shawcross, Kieran Gibbs and Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster in his England squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.
With John Terry now retired from international football, there had been plenty of speculation about who the fourth central defender would be.
Tottenham's Steven Caulker seemed like the obvious choice but he was named in Stuart Pearce's Under-21 squad yesterday, so Stoke's Shawcross has been picked for only the second time, having failed to win a cap when he was chosen for the friendly against Egypt by Fabio Capello in March 2010.
Arsenal's Gibbs, who has two caps from friendly encounters against Hungary and France, has replaced Ryan Bertrand in the squad and has been rewarded for his excellent performances for Arsenal this season.
Like Caulker, Jack Butland has been released to the Under-21s for their European Championship play-off with Serbia, leading to Celtic's Forster becoming a rare England selection from the Scottish Premier League.
Tottenham's Aaron Lennon earns a recall having not played for England since the 2010 World Cup.
England squad v San Marino and Poland: Hart (Manchester City), Ruddy (Norwich), Forster (Celtic); Baines (Everton), Cahill (Chelsea), Cole (Chelsea), Gibbs (Arsenal), Jagielka (Everton), G Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Manchester City), Shawcross (Stoke), Walker (Tottenham); Carrick (Manchester United), Cleverley (Manchester United), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Gerrard (Liverpool), A Johnson (Sunderland), Lennon (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Manchester City), Walcott (Arsenal); Carroll (West Ham, on loan from Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United), Welbeck (Manchester United).
