Ryan Bertrand and Jonjo Shelvey added to England squad

Ryan Bertrand

England manager Roy Hodgson has called up Ryan Bertrand and Jonjo Shelvey ahead of the forthcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.

Chelsea left-back Bertrand, 23, is brought in as a direct replacement for the injured Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs, while Liverpool midfielder Shelvey is promoted from the Under-21 squad for the first time.

The 20-year-old had been called up for the European Under-21 Championship play-off with Serbia but, as he is suspended for the first leg of that tie, Hodgson has taken the opportunity to involve him with the current senior setup.

However, Shelvey could return to the Under-21s for the second leg next Tuesday.

The England squad convened for their first training session at the recently-opened St George’s Park on Monday, and the Football Association chairman David Bernstein confirmed that he received an apology from full-back Ashley Cole for last week’s Twitter rant.

The 31-year-old Chelsea defender was charged with misconduct for using an expletive to describe the FA after the case which found his team-mate John Terry guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand.

"He apologised publicly the day after. He saw me last night and he apologised personally," Bernstein told BBC Sport. "He showed real remorse. I looked him in the eye and I accept that. He is free to play for England."

If selected, Cole could win his 99th and 100th England caps against San Marino on Friday and Poland on Tuesday.

England are currently level on points in Group H with leaders Montenegro and Poland, and are expected to secure a comfortable victory against San Marino at Wembley before a much tougher fixture in Warsaw next week.

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