Luton Town youngster is called up by England U18s to face Belgium, Morocco and Korea Republic

Luton youngster Joe Johnson has earned his first ever call-up to the England U18s squad for their upcoming matches against Belgium, Morocco and Korea Republic.

The 17-year-old, who came through the ranks at Kenilworth Road, has flourished since Rob Edwards took over, earning his Championship debut as a substitute against Middlesbrough last season, also featuring for the final half hour when Town drew 0-0 against Hull City in their final game of the regular campaign ahead of the play-offs.

This term, Johnson has been named on the bench by the Hatters in the Premier League a number of times, while getting a full Luton debut when playing 62 minutes of the 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Exeter City last month.

It has seen the defender selected by U18s head coach Ryan Garry for the Young Lions’ final games, a four nation tournament taking place in Spain, ahead of this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup held in Indonesia which starts on November 10.

England will be in action at the Marbella Football Centre as joining Johnson in the squad for the first time is Newcastle United’s Anthony Munda and Sunderland’s Tom Watson.

The teenagers start against Belgium on Wednesday, October 11 at 2pm BST, then face Morocco on Saturday, October 14 (1.30pm BST) and Korea Republic on Tuesday, October 17 (4.30pm BST).

Speaking about the teenager left-sided defender, and the Hatters academy recently, Edwards said: “We’ve got a lot of good young players, the work that goes on in the academy is outstanding.

"It’s not just Joe that is knocking about, Jayden Luker travelled with us (to Everton), there’s a couple there to get some great experience and be a part of it.

"Joe played against Exeter as well, played a couple of games last year in the back end of the Championship.

"I do like him, I think he’s got a really good future.

"We’ve got a brilliant academy, the staff are amazing, know the club well, a lot of them have played for this football club, so know what we’re about.

"They’ve got brilliant standards, the kids are really humble, but incredibly hard working and we’ve got high hopes for a lot of them.

"It’s going to be hard for them now, especially the level that we’re at, breaking into a Premier League squad is very, very difficult, but I think there’s a few there who are capable.

"It might not be right now, but over these next few years, we’ll see them coming through.”

England U18s squad

Goalkeepers: Ted Curd (Hashtag United, loan from Chelsea), Elyh Harrison (Manchester United), Tommy Setford (Ajax).

Defenders: Zach Abbott (Nottingham Forest), Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), Joe Johnson (Luton Town), Jayden Meghoma (Southampton), Harrison Murray Campbell (Chelsea), Triston Rowe (Aston Villa), Lakyle Samuel (Manchester City), Ishé Samuels Smith (Chelsea).

Midfielders: Samuel Amo-Ameyaw (Southampton), Michael Golding (Chelsea), Finley McAllister (Manchester United), Anthony Munda (Newcastle United), Chris Rigg (Sunderland), Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny (Chelsea).

Forwards: Jayden Danns (Liverpool), Jimmy Jay Morgan (Chelsea), Tom King (Cheltenham Town), Zakariya Lovelace (Glasgow Rangers), Joel Ndala (Manchester City), Justin Oboavwoduo (Manchester City), Archie Stevens (Glasgow Rangers), Tom Watson (Sunderland).