England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Jake Livermore's inclusion in his squad to face Germany and Lithuania is down to positional reasoning.
The 27-year-old West Bromwich Albion midfielder was one of the more surprising selections in Southgate's 26-man squad, particularly following a 2015 ban after testing positive for cocaine.
However, with Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater both sidelined, Southgate revealed that the decision to include Livermore was down to his need for another defensive midfielder.
"The decision to call him up is positional. Without Henderson and Drinkwater we need to find some solutions in defensive midfield players," he told reporters.
"He's a different sort of profile to other midfield players we might have picked. From his own journey it's an incredible story and I'm sure he's taken a lot of strength from what he's been through over the last year or so. It's great to see him now back in the fold."
Livermore has previously won one cap for England, coming on as a second-half sub during a 2-1 win over Italy in 2012.
Barney Corkhill
