Southampton forward Gra-ziano Pelle has been included in Italy coach Antonio Conte’s 28-man squad for this week’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Croatia and the international friendly against Portugal four days later.

Pelle scored 12 goals in 38 Premier League appearances in the season just ended, his first in England.

He also netted for Italy against Malta last October, and against England in March.

Sunderland forward Eman-uele Giaccherini, who was named in a preliminary squad and trained with the national squad last week, has been dropped.

Ankle injuries limited Giaccherini to just eight Premier League appearances in the recent season.

Conte has rewarded forward Nicola Sansone with his first call-up after a strong year with Sassuolo.

The 23-year-old played in all but three Serie A games for Sassuolo, scoring five goals and setting up four more.

A total of six Juventus players have been included in Conte’s squad. They will join the Azzurri today following their involvement in the Champions League final against Barcelona on Saturday.

Italy are second in the Euro 2016 qualifying Group H, two points adrift of Croatia.

The teams are unbeaten heading into their top-of-the-table showdown in Split on Friday.

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