DERBY-BORN Jonathan Joseph has been called up to the England Under-20 Elite Player Squad for this season's major tournaments.

The 18-year-old centre is part of a 32-man group that will compete in the RBS U20 Six Nations, which kicks off in February, and the IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina.

Joseph, who went to Chellaston School, has previously been part of the England Under-18 set-up.

He has enjoyed a good season so far and has featured in the LV=Cup for his club side, Guinness Premiership outfit London Irish.

The teenager was drafted into a revised squad along with Harlequins lock Charlie Matthews.

England Under-20 EPS head coach Mark Mapletoft was full of praise for Joseph.

"I'm really pleased for JJ (Joseph)," said Mapletoft. "He had some areas to work on that we'd talked about in September and he's been very good this season.

"He's had a run-out for the first team in the LV=Cup. He's solid defensively, makes things happen with ball in hand and he's extremely coachable.

"He's stuck his hand up over the last few months and it's nice to be able to reward that."

The England squad features 16 players who were also capped at Under-20 level last season.

There are also seven survivors from the 2009 Junior World Cup squad.

Mapletoft added: "The strength in depth we have is increasing.

"I'm really pleased with the game time our players have been getting in the Guinness Premiership and the support and buy-in from the clubs has been a real positive.

"Our objective is that it will give England more and more options at a senior level in the years to come."

The Under-20 squad has a week-long training camp, which starts on January 18.

They will then gather again ahead of their opening Six Nations match against Wales, which takes place at Gloucester on February 5.