Burnley pair Nick Pope and James Tarkowski earn England call-up

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Kolkata, March 16: In-form Burnley duo James Tarkowski and Nick Pope have been given a shock call-up to the England squad by the manager Gareth Southgate.

Three Lions chief Gareth Southgate has included the Clarets pair in his squad for the upcoming friendlies against Italy and Holland.

The Clarets have been a surprise package in the Premier League this season and Pope and Tarkowski have been key in their success.

Goalkeeper Pope, 25, has only been Burnley's No.1 this season after a horror injury sustained by Tom Heaton early in the campaign.

However, the young keeper has done much more than a decent job under the bar, with Tarkowski, also 25, and Ben Mee in front of him, as Sean Dyche's men sit seventh in the league.

In fact, Burnley have conceded just 26 goals in their 30 Premier League games this term, the fourth-best in the division, behind only Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Top sides like Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all conceded more which speaks volumes about the Clarets' amazing defending justifying why Tarkowski and Pope deserve their chances.

Former Charlton stopper Pope is the real surprise having played only 33 league games in five years at the London club - shipped out on loan eight times.

However, Burnley brought him in as their reserve goalkeeper in 2016, thrust into the action following Heaton's dislocated shoulder.

Pope has gone on to stake his claim as the best goalkeeper in the league and is set to be rightly given his chance.

Meanwhile, ex-Brentford man Tarkowski has also been a leading man in the heart of Burnley's defence.

The 25-year-old has played 25 times in all competitions for the Clarets this season, impressing in Dyche's solid back-four.