The squad sees two players called-up to the U21s for the first time - Manchester City's Chinedum Onuoha and Jerome Thomas of Charlton Athletic.

Onuoha played his first match for England at any level for the U20s in their 2-0 win over Russia at The Valley and Taylor says that he deserves his chance at this level after playing consistently well for the Eastlands club.

"I saw him play for City in Carling Cup against Doncaster and though they got beaten that was the first time I saw him live," he told TheFA.com.

"I was very impressed and at his age he is only going to get better and I am delighted to have him on-board.

"He looks confident, he is the right size and he clearly has a lot of ability so hopefully he'll come into the squad, enjoy it and do well."

Thomas has also earned a first chance to shine with the U21s and the call-up comes after the left-winger's long run of good form in the Addicks' first team.

Taylor said: "I've followed him ever since he was at Arsenal and then through his loan spell at QPR - in fact he was a player I was always keen on getting on-loan."

Thomas has played for three England youth sides and has won 12 caps for the U20s, four for the U19s and two for the U17s.

"I'm very impressed with his ability," Taylor continued. "He's having a tremendous season and injects some excitement into matches with his pace on the wing.

"It's nice bringing in new players like Nedum and Jerome. Though you never want to lose players through injury, I do get to see other players and it is great seeing players come through the youth development system."

England's games are the final two in the qualifying group and they know that only the best will do if they are to secure themselves top spot and a favourable draw in November's final play-offs.

"We would love to win the group - which would mean maximum points - but we know they are going to be tough matches," Taylor said.

"All we can do is focus on the two matches and make sure that we give ourselves the best possible chance of finishing top."

England U21 Squad v. Austria and Poland

Player

Club

D.O.B.

Caps

Goals

Lee Camp

Derby County

22 Aug 84

3

0

Scott Carson

Liverpool

03 Sept 85

14

0

Luke Steele

Manchester United

24 Sept 84

0

0

Calum Davenport

Norwich City*

01 Jan 83

8

0

Michael Dawson

Tottenham Hotspur

18 Nov 83

10

1

Nedum Onuoha

Manchester City

30 Nov 86

0

0

Leighton Baines

Wigan Athletic

11 Dec 84

4

0

Anton Ferdinand

West Ham United

18 Feb 85

6

0

Steven Taylor

Newcastle United

23 Jan 86

7

1

Peter Whittingham

Derby County**

08 Sept 84

10

2

Liam Ridgewell

Aston Villa

21 July 84

7

0

Tom Huddlestone

Tottenham Hotspur

 28 Dec 86

3

0

Tom Soares

Crystal Palace

10 July 86

2

0

James Milner

Aston Villa***

04 Jan 86

13

1

Nigel Reo-Coker

West Ham United

14 May 84

10

0

Ryan Taylor

Wigan Athletic

19 Aug 84

0

0

Gary O'Neil

Portsmouth

18 May 83

7

0

John Welsh

Hull City*****

10 Jan 84

6

1

Jerome Thomas

Charlton Athletic

23 Mar 83

0

0

Luke Moore

Aston Villa

13 Feb 86

0

0

Carlton Cole

Chelsea

 12 Oct 83

15

4

Jon Stead

Sunderland

07 Apr 83

10

1


* On-loan from Tottenham Hotspur
** On-loan from Aston Villa
*** On-loan from Newcastle United
**** On-loan from Liverpool