England Under-18 coach Dick Bate has named his squad for the Meridien Cup in Egypt during January and February.

Bate and his players will go into the competition with good confidence on the back of their comprehensive dismantling of Tunisia last month.

The team travelled away to play in Africa and returned with a 4-0 victory thanks to a fine display of defensive assuredness and attacking imagination.

Understandably Dick sticks to pretty much the same squad but makes a significant addition in the form of Manchester City's outstanding young prospect Lee Croft.

Lee has already helped to guide Stuart Baxter's Under-19 side through to the next stage of their European Championship qualification campaign and now Bate, who knows the player well from their time together at Under-17 level last season, has called upon his services for the four-match competition in Egypt.

Overall, it is an experienced set of players who have come through the international ranks. Sean Doherty, who moved from Everton to Fulham last year, is getting regular first team action for Jean Tigana's side and scored the winner for them earlier this week.

Likewise David Raven and Osei Sankofa also features. The young defenders are currently earning rave reviews for their recent performances in Liverpool's and Charlton's second strings.

Meanwhile, Millwall's Cherno Samba and Manchester City's Dorryl Proffitt give England a cutting edge up-front. The Millwall in particular will be looking forward to pulling on an England shirt again having netted last time out.

 

 




Here's a look at the squad:
BIGGINS James - Nottingham Forest FC
BORROWDALE Gary - Crystal Palace FC
BROWN Scott - Everton FC
CROFT Lee - Manchester City FC
DOHERTY Sean - Fulham FC
ECKERSLEY Adam - Manchester United FC
GARDNER Ross - Newcastle United FC
GROVES Tom - Nottingham Forest FC
GUY Lewis - Newcastle United FC
HOGG Chris - Ipswich Town FC
LONG Stacy - Charlton Athletic FC
PROFFITT Dorryl - Manchester City FC
RAVEN David - Liverpool FC
SAMBA Cherno - Millwall FC
SANKOFA Osei - Charlton Athletic FC
SMYTH Mark - Liverpool FC
TURNBULL Ross - Middlesbrough FC
YOUNG Jamie - Reading FC


Related content:

U-18s put four past Tunisia
Lee Croft interview


Fixture List

We'll keep you up-to-date with all of England's matches out in Egypt.