Elliot Day and Jonny May retained in England squad for Argentina Test

Jonny May and Elliot Daly have defied expectations to be in contention for England’s autumn series opener against Argentina on Saturday.

The wings were expected to miss the Twickenham showdown after sustaining injuries but have been included in a 26-man squad that will be trimmed to a matchday 23 on Thursday morning.

May suffered a minor hamstring injury during training in Portugal last week and was expected to miss out against the Pumas, but his recovery has progressed well and he could be involved.

Daly damaged knee ligaments on Champions Cup duty for Wasps last month and after being ruled out of the Tests against Argentina and Australia, he is now poised to start on the wing.

Anthony Watson is set to start on the other wing, Mike Brown completing the back three, with May offering bench cover unless he is ruled out, in which case Semesa Rokoduguni is present to step in.

Denny Solomana, Piers Francis, Charlie Ewels, Nick Isiekwe, Zach Mercer, Sam Simmonds and Tom Dunn all return to their respective clubs.

England 26-man squad

Full-backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath), Anthony Watson (Bath).

Inside backs: Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

Back five: Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Underhill (Bath).

Front row: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs).

(c) Sky News 2017: Elliot Day and Jonny May retained in England squad for Argentina Test