Arsenal's Theo Walcott has withdrawn from the squad because of illness, allowing the Liverpool forward a chance to be part of the England set up for Wednesday's game, even if its unlikely he will play.
17-year-old Sterling has been impressive for the Reds so far this season and Brendan Rodgers has been keen to protect his young talent, convincing the FA not to promote him from the Under 19's to the Under 21's last week.
"I know Raheem from my time at Liverpool, but in the last two years he has come on leaps and bounds," said England boss Roy Hodgson. "Steven [Gerrard] will know him very well and quite frankly in the opening matches where he has played the reports on him have been very good, so this is an opportunity just to bring him into the group.
"I shall make it clear to him that I'm not bringing him in necessarily to play him now, but more because there might be a time in the future when not only does he feature as a substitute but he might even be breaking into the team."