Kirkland has recovered from a knee injury

Kirkland has been called up despite not playing for Liverpool since suffering a serious knee injury in an FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace in January.

He has battled back to full fitness and is now challenging Jerzy Dudek for a place at Liverpool.

Kirkland has not been included in a full England squad before, and is likely to be desperately short of match practice for the game at Portman Road.

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is expected to keep faith with Dudek for the first Premiership game of the season against Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday, leaving Kirkland on the bench.

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England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has resisted the temptation to call Everton's Wayne Rooney into the squad, despite witnessing the teenager's return to action at Highbury.

Rooney came on as a second-half substitute for Everton in their 2-1 defeat but his manager David Moyes made it clear he was not match-fit enough to feature for England.

Eriksson has also omitted Gareth Southgate, Matthew Upson and Jermaine Jenas from his squad.