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England call up Sterling, Lallana & Livermore

Raheem Sterling has been added to the England squad © Getty Images

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Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Jake Livermore have been called up to the England senior squad to face Ukraine after Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott were struck down by illness.

Walcott returned to Arsenal on Monday morning after falling sick overnight, joining John Terry, Ashley Cole, Adam Johnson and Andy Carroll in being ruled out for England through illness or injury.

Sturridge sat out of training on Monday with stomach cramps, but the England medical team believe the incidents are isolated and are hopeful the Chelsea striker will be available for the match at Wembley on Tuesday evening.

With five players having withdrawn from Roy Hodgson's squad for the World Cup qualifier double-header, the England manager has taken the opportunity to expose three of the Premier League's younger players to the England set-up.

"It was a good opportunity to invite some younger players to come in and be a part of the atmosphere," said Hodgson, preparing for his first game at Wembley since Euro 2012.

"The reason we've called up some extra players is just in case, because you never know, you could wake up tomorrow morning and one or two other players are suffering from this virus."

The news will deal a blow to Jamaican hopes of convincing Liverpool's Sterling, born in Kingston before representing England at schoolboy, Under-17 and Under-19 level.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had taken steps to avoid exposing the 17-year-old to the England set-up too early, convincing under-21 manager Stuart Pearce to give the forward time to develop gradually with the under-19s.

Hodgson admitted Sterling's call-up to the senior squad will be more for the experience than for the opportunity to make his full international debut.

"I'm not bringing him in with a view to playing him in now - I'm bringing him in more because there might be a time in the future where not only does he feature as a substitute, he might even be breaking his way into the team."

Livermore has made one international appearance when he came off the bench in England's friendly win over Italy last month, but both Sterling and Lallana, 24, are being called up to the senior squad for the first time.

"Lallana's a player I've known about and watched when Southampton were in the first division, because as a club coach he's been on the radar of players to watch," added Hodgson. "It's good that he's confirmed what we all thought: that he is a talent."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.