Former Blues striker Connor Wickham has been left out of the England U21s squad for the Euro 2015 qualifier against Lithuania at Portman Road on Tuesday 15th October.

Gareth Southgate’s men take on San Marino away on Thursday 10th October prior to the U21s’ first game in Suffolk for seven years.

They were last at Portman Road in August 2006 for a 2-2 draw with Moldova when debutant Theo Walcott and David Nugent were on the scoresheet.

Prior to that, Town hosted the full England side in August 2003 when they defeated Croatia 3-1 in a friendly.

Portman Road has also been the venue for England U21 matches against Switzerland (1980, 5-0), Romania (1985, 3-0), Albania (1989, 2-0) and the Czech Republic (1998, 0-1). An U23 side including ex-Blues boss Joe Royle drew 1-1 with Switzerland in 1971.

In 2001/02, an England U19s squad including Town’s Darren Bent and Matt Bloomfield beat Germany 3-1.

The ground also played host to a 1959 pre-Olympic Games friendly between Great Britain and the Caribbean FA ahead of the 1960 Games in Rome.

Tickets for the Lithuania game cost £10 for adults and £5 for concessions and can be bought online from ITFC Direct. A family ticket can be bought for £20 by calling 0871 964 2116.

U21s: Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Barnsley, on loan from Stoke City), George Long (Sheffield United), Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal), Michael Keane (Manchester United), Jack Robinson (Blackpool, on loan from Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Southampton), John Stones (Everton), Tom Carroll (QPR, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Chalobah (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Chelsea), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ravel Morrison (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Sammy Ameobi (Newcastle United), Tom Ince (Blackpool), Jesse Lingard (Birmingham City, on loan from Manchester United), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United), Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Ings (Burnley), Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic, on loan from Manchester United).

Photo: Action Images

RetroBlue added 15:04 - Oct 3 Seems to have been a downward slope for CW since he's left Town. He rarely plays now it seems. Still, he has a nice looking bank balance. eh !
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tractorfact added 15:09 - Oct 3 McGoldrick and Wickham what might have been eh
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RetroBlue added 15:31 - Oct 3 Its just so frustrating that young players with potential tend to see only the £££ signs. Thats the one thing Keane has ever said that Ive ever agreed with, when he alluded to the fact that young players get their heads turned by the rewards and flash cars and fail to keep their heads down and concentrate on developing their game and getting the basics right. CW is just yet another example of a young player singing for a club in the PL ( not even a big club tbh) and expecting to just slot into the big time. He should have stayed at Town fora at least 3 more seasons. He'd have developed some much more. Instead he's spent most of his time bench warming. Big loss to HIM as well as us and perhaps even England.

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Axeldalai_lama added 15:57 - Oct 3 To be fair he's played in 6 of Sunderlands 8 games this season, admittedly all but one from the bench. I'm sure he'd argue he'd rather be there or there abouts with a team in the prem than playing more at a lower level. That an he's coining it in!
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Mach_foreignBlue added 16:09 - Oct 3 Branded by lazy playboy by Di Canio who refuses to work hard. Perfect example of what's wrong with young English players. Tattoos, hair styles, gel etc etc.
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TractorCam added 16:11 - Oct 3 Shame, was quite looking forward to his return to Portman Road.
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raycrawfordswig added 16:19 - Oct 3 Problem is greedy agents .
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MattinLondon added 16:38 - Oct 3 If anyone actually listens to what Di Canio says then more fool them. I always considered Wickham to be a bit overrated and thought 8.1 million for him was a very very good deal.but he does work hard on the pitch and so the playboy comment is a bit harsh. @Mach_foreignBlue - I agree with you - blame gel for the short comings of young players.
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NoJoseph added 19:49 - Oct 3 @tractorfact I would prefer Rhodes and McGoldrick.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:22 - Oct 3 Left Town after much a'do, and disapeared into a Black Hole ! another lost talent .
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whosroundisitanyway added 20:51 - Oct 3 WHAT A WASTE!!!
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Nthsuffolkblue added 21:00 - Oct 3 Would make sense if he did make a PR return on loan if Sunderland won't play him. A chance to get his career going again - unless the new Sunderland manager decides he worth a go.
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EatonBlue added 21:15 - Oct 3 In days past the FA would select one player from the club whose ground was being used just to increase the attendance but instead we have a norwich player - boo.
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bluemikey100 added 21:36 - Oct 3 surprised left out as been in all the squads i think and played and scored great chip the other month for under 21 s he has 6 goals in 17 appearances which is good
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