Gündogan back for Germany

Ilkay Gündogan returns to the Germany squad after missing almost a year of international football through injury.

The Manchester City midfielder last played for "Die Nationalmannschaft"in November against Franceand also missed Euro 2016 through injury.

Jerome Boateng and Mario Gomez also return to the squad after picking up injuries during Germany's Euro 2016 campaign. Dortmund's Andre Schürrle was not included in the squad due to an injury.

While the squad isn't lacking experience, it also consists of a number of young players, Schalke's Max Meyer (21 years old), Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich (21) and Dortmund midfielder Julian Weigl (21) to name but a few.

"We want to maintain the lead in our group," said Germany head coach Joachim Löw, while adding that the Czechs are going to be "extremely motivated" ahead of the game against his players.

Shortly after the squad announcement, Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel voiced his surprise that Gonzalo Castro was not included. "In his current form, I expected him to be a candidate for the national team," said Tuchel in a press conference.

Germany started the campaign with a 3-0 win away against Norwayand will be looking to grab six points against the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland in their October fixtures.

The full squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Bernd Leno, Marc-Andre ter Stegen

Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Jonas Hector, Benedikt Höwedes, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Shkodran Mustafi, Sebastian Rudy

Midfielders: Julian Brandt, Julian Draxler, Ilkay Gündogan, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Max Meyer, Mesut Özil, Julian Weigl

Forwards: Mario Gomez, Mario Götze, Thomas Müller

(AP)