England Under-20 coach Les Reed has named his squad to face Germany in Reading next Thursday as he begins to finalise his thoughts ahead of the World Youth Championships in March.

It's a party full of the brightest talent in English football but Reed has also revealed that it might well have been boosted by another of the youngsters to have really caught the eye this season.

Blackburn's seventeen year-old defender James McEverley has been an instrumental figure for Graeme Sounness' men in recent weeks and Reed told us that, had fixtures permitted, he would have made his way into the squad too.

Speaking from the United Arab Emirates where he is attending Thursday's draw for the World Youth Championships, Reed told us: "James is a player we were aware of initially when he was fourteen. We have continued to monitor him since then and I think the progress that he's made this season has taken everybody by surprise.

"We wanted to include him in this Under-20 squad but, having discussed things with Graeme and seen Blackburn's fixture list, I would tend to think that playing Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Sunday is on overly rigorous schedule for a player who is still only seventeen.

"It's not a problem though. Everyone at Blackburn was delighted that we wanted to pick him and, given his recent performances, I would have thought that we'll give him the chance to impress at international level some time soon."

Players like Birmingham's powerful midfielder Darren Carter and West Ham's gifted defender Glen Johnson have already tasted Premiership action but the Reading fans will be desperate to see their own Nathan Tyson represent his country at the Madejski.

"Nathan is a player Alan Pardew has recommended to me," reveals Les "and the reports we've had on him from our scouts have also been highly impressive. I'm looking forward to working with him."

Reed's team put in a tremendous performance to defeat Germany 2-1 in Dessau last time the two sides met and the England coach will be looking for more of the same this time around.

"We performed very well last time," Les told us, "so a repeat performance would be welcome. But we know that Germany will be out for revenge so we'll have to be on our toes.

"Going to play at the Madejski is always a pleasure - we're hoping for a big crowd to cheer us on and the players will certainly be up for it as they are all extremely keen to be involved the World Youth Championships and the Toulon international tournament that we have coming up in the next few months."

Here's the squad in full:

U20 FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL

England v Germany

1. Bowditch,Ben Tottenham Hotspur FC - 19/02/1984
2. Burch,Robert Tottenham Hotspur FC - 08/10/1983
3. Carter,Darren Birmingham City FC - 18/12/1983
4. Chopra,Michael Newcastle United FC - 23/12/1983
5. Cooke,Stephen Aston Villa FC - 15/02/1983
6. Fox,David Manchester United FC - 13/12/1983
7. Garry,Ryan Arsenal FC - 29/09/1983
8. Howard,Brian Southampton FC - 23/01/1983
9. Hoyte,Justin Arsenal FC - 20/11/1984
10. Hylton,Leon Aston Villa FC - 27/01/1983
11. Johnson,Glen West Ham United FC - 23/08/1984
12. Leacock Dean Fulham FC - 10/06/1984
13. Lonergan Andrew Preston North End FC - 19/10/1983
14. Mooniaruck Kalam Manchester United FC - 22/11/1983
15. Offiong,Richard Newcastle United (On loan to Motherwell) - 17/12/1983
16. Thomas,Jerome Arsenal FC - 23/03/1983
17. Tyson Nathan Reading FC - 04/05/1982
18. Welsh,John Liverpool FC - 10/01/1984

If you want to see some of the stars of England's future in action, make sure you get down to the Madejski next Thursday.

Here are all the ticketing details:
Under-20 Friendly International: England v Germany
Madejski Stadium, Reading. February 6, Kick Off 7.45.
£3 for adults if booked in advance
£5 for adults on match day £1 for U16s, Students & OAPs.
£10 per group booking – Up to 20 people, minimum of 4 adults – admin fee
£1 Ticket hotline: 0118 968 1000
Web sales: www.readingfc.co.uk (£1 admin fee for credit/debit card bookings)
Tickets are on sale now.

Stay logged on for more from the squad next week.