Martin Dubravka (Slovakia), Emil Krafth (Sweden) and Ryan Fraser (Scotland) have all received call-ups ahead of this summer’s Euros.
A few former Mags are also set to feature at this summer’s tournament, with Toon flop Matz Sels in Belgium’s squad and ex-NUFC talent Lubomir Satka also set to line up for Slovakia alongside Dubravka.
Paul Dummett (Wales) and Matt Ritchie (Scotland) have recently stepped down from national duty so won’t be involved, however Fabian Schar is expected to be named in the Switzerland squad in the coming week.
Fraser’s inclusion is a particularly interesting one, with Steve Bruce insisting on Tuesday that it would be “gamble” for him to be included after so many injury issues this season and a recent operation.
The winger has not featured at all since our dismal 3-0 defeat to Brighton back in March, and Bruce has recently said that he needs a full pre-season under his belt before playing any first-team football.
That said, he bagged a couple of crucial goals for Steve Clarke’s men during recent qualifiers and he’s been included in the 26, with the former NUFC coach having this to say after Bruce’s warning earlier this week:
It’s clearly a gamble, but you can’t blame Clarke for taking a chance on a winger whose been one of their star men in recent games.
As for Dubravka, we’ll have to hope the hamstring injury picked up in yesterday’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United isn’t a serious one – otherwise he could yet be removed from Slovakia’s provisional squad.
Krafth will be another one to watch. The 26-year old was part of the Sweden side that got to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2017, playing 85 minutes in the 2-0 defeat to England which ultimately knocked them out.
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