Ryan Shawcross has become the first Stoke City player to be called up by England in 26 years.

The 22-year old defender, who was involved in the challenge that broke Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey's leg on Saturday, has been called up for England's international friendly against Egypt on Wednesday and his club is extremely proud after hearing the news.

"Everyone at the club is proud of what Ryan's achieved since he came to the Britannia Stadium and it's clear that he has a great future in the game," said Stoke chairman Peter Coates.

"His development into one of the best defenders in the country has been outstanding and we firmly believe this will be the start of a long international career for him.

"The timing of this has been most unfortunate, but it should not detract from the fact that Ryan has made remarkable progress and deserves his call-up.

"While we're all deeply saddened at what's happened to Aaron, we believe that Ryan's worthy of this chance to represent his country and hopefully put himself in contention for a place in the England squad for the World Cup finals."