Lewis Miley withdraws from England U21 duty with ‘knock’

Newcastle United have confirmed that Lewis Miley has returned from England Under-21 duty. The midfielder is still expected to be in contention for our trip to Coventry on 12 October.

The 20-year-old reportedly picked up a knock in training, with Newcastle and the FA agreeing to his return. Encouragingly, Mark Douglas reports that the injury is not serious.

The FA confirmed his departure in a statement:

“Lewis Miley has left the England U21 squad and returned to Newcastle.”

Miley is expected to resume training at the KNOX next week and be in contention for Coventry. Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong has been called up to replace him in Lee Carsley’s squad.

Miley’s progress with England Under-21s

Miley has made three appearances in the current European Championship qualifying campaign, including starts in the 2-0 wins over Kazakhstan and the Republic of Ireland last year. He also came off the bench in November’s 4-0 victory over Slovakia.

He was an unused substitute against Kazakhstan last Friday, when England won 4-2, and will now miss the remaining qualifiers against Slovakia on Friday and Ireland on Tuesday.

Hopefully, it really is just a knock

Miley has spent far too long on the sidelines already in his young career.

Back and foot problems disrupted his early progress, while last season brought a lengthy absence following a dead leg before a broken fibula ended his campaign. He could certainly do without another spell out just as he has the chance to take his game to the next level.

At 20, this feels like an important season for him to establish himself at Newcastle. Let’s hope he is back for Coventry and can finally get a sustained run of football without another setback.