Chelsea youngsters Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori were all rewarded for their performances with Frank Lampard's team by being named to England's squad for this month's Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The Chelsea stars, who will be joined by teammate Ross Barkley, have helped put the Blues in contention for a place in next season's Champions League despite the club's transfer ban.
Now, they'll have an opportunity to help England qualify for next summer's tournament. The Three Lions can book their place in the 2020 European Championship by collecting just one point from matches against Montenegro (Nov. 14) or Kosovo (Nov. 17).
Southgate named 27 players to the England squad. He explained that the team is larger than usual because some options are dealing with injuries.
"There are one or two injury doubts," Southgate said, according to BBC Sport. "Hopefully we get through the next few days without any problems."
Kyle Walker's exclusion from the England team continues, as Southgate said he's been more impressed by the performances of Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The manager also addressed James Maddison's inclusion. The Leicester City midfielder attracted negative media attention when he was spotted in a casino during England's 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic after withdrawing from the team with an illness.
"He's only been in two squads," Southgate said of Maddison. "The important thing is to say he decided to go home. We sent him home - he was ill. It wasn't right for him to travel with the rest of the group.
"Any suggestion he chose to go home because he wanted to go out is unfair. It's not a great decision he took (to visit a casino)."
England sits atop Group A with 15 points in six matches.
Here is the squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton (Aston Villa), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester City), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham), Harry Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)
