Kieran Gibbs gets called up to England squad

In the 19th minute of England’s 2-0 win over Malta today, Southampton left back Ryan Bertrand left with an injury. He has since returned to Southampton, and his place in the England squad was taken up by Kieran Gibbs. He will join up with the squad in the next day or so, ahead of Tuesday’s qualifier in Slovenia.

Gibbs, of course, hasn’t played a ton for Arsenal this season, having logged just over a half hour of playing time in the first couple months of the campaign. This is his return to the England team, after not being a part of the, shall we say, less than successful summer they had; this will be Gibbs’ first action with the team since October of 2015.

This is good news for Kieran, of course, but as per usual in these things, I mostly just want him to emerge unhurt from his exertions.