Levi Colwill trains with England first team after Lewis Dunk injury

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Levi Colwill trains with England first team after Lewis Dunk injury

Chelsea centre-back Levi Colwill has been drafted into training with the England senior setup following the withdrawal of Lewis Dunk through injury.

Dunk, who shone alongside Colwill for Brighton this season, missed the final two games of the campaign through injury and was forced to withdraw from the squad on Sunday after accepting that he had not yet recovered.

No formal replacement has been called up but manager Gareth Southgate instead turned to the Under-21 side, where Colwill was training as part of Lee Carsley's side, and invited the 20-year-old up to the first team.

Just whether Colwill will get the chance to feature for Southgate's first team is unclear. The Three Lions take on Malta and North Macedonia on Friday and Monday respectively and already have four centre-backs in their ranks: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi and Tyrone Mings.

After his stint with the first team, Colwill is due to return to the Under-21 setup as they prepare for the Under-21 European Championships this summer.

Colwill's call-up is a fair reward for his excellent form on loan with Brighton, which has led to an uncertain summer as he returns to a Chelsea side who have an excess of centre-backs on the books already.

Benoit Badiashile joined in January, following a summer which saw huge fees spent on Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella. Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah are also looking for game time under Mauricio Pochettino.

The lack of clarity over his future has encouraged Brighton to prepare a club-record bid to sign Colwill, but 90min understands Chelsea are adamant they will not be selling the academy graduate this summer.

Chelsea are eager to give Colwill the opportunity to impress Pochettino and plan to rebuff all interest in the 20-year-old.