Marcus Smith returns to England squad ahead of Ireland game

England have received a much-needed boost ahead of their crucial Six Nations game against Ireland with fly-half Marcus Smith and scrum-half Alex Mitchell returning to the squad after recovering from injuries.

Smith missed the opening three games of the tournament due to a calf injury and was initially expected to miss the entire Six Nations. However, he has made sufficient recovery and is now in contention to face a must-win game against Andy Farrell's men, who are yet to lose a game in the tournament.

In the absence of Smith, Steve Borthwick opted for George Ford at fly-half with Northampton's Fin Smith providing cover from the bench.

Meanwhile, Mitchell, started against Italy and Wales but missed the Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland after sustaining a knee injury and now his return means Harry Randall drops out of the 36-member squad with Danny Care and Ben Spencer being retained.

Also returning to the squad is Exeter's Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who makes a comeback after missing last week's camp due to a university exam.

England are positioned third in the Six Nations table with two wins from three matches.

England 36-man squad:

Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Chandler Cunningham-South, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje, Joe Marler, George Martin, Beno Obano, Ethan Roots, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill

Backs: Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Lawrence, Alex Mitchell, Will Muir, Tom Roebuck, Henry Slade, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi