Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay, 29, is unavailable, having recently had minor heart surgery.
Of the 28 named in this squad, 14 were part of this summer’s World Cup.
Gunn and Kelly, defenders Jack Hendry, Aaron Hickey, Scott McKenna, Nathan Patterson, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney, midfielders Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, John McGinn and Kenny McLean and forwards Findlay Curtis and Ben Gannon-Doak are all retained.
Goalkeeper Craig Gordon has retired while Grant Hanley has recently returned to fitness at Hibernian while Rangers defender John Souttar has not played this season amid reports linking him with Aris Thessaloniki.
Defenders Dominic Hyam and Anthony Ralston, midfielder Tyler Fletcher and forwards Lyndon Dykes, George Hirst and Ross Stewart miss out.
When asked about the possibility of calling up Scotland-qualified Newcastle winger Harvey Barnes, 28, and Everton midfielder Hayden Hackney, 24, Pocognoli said he was “aware of everything and about the feeling of everybody” and said “it’s about timing.”
“I don’t want to convince players,” he explained. “They need to be open to representing in the natural way, the country. We’ll see in the future.”
Since Pocognoli was announced as Clarke’s successor – the former Kilmarnock manager having resigned after the Scots failed to qualify for the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time – the expectation was that the Belgian would look to freshen up an ageing squad.
Pocognoli will take charge of Scotland for the first time on Saturday, 26 September in the Scots’ Nations League B opener against Slovenia and his debut in the Hampden dugout will be three days later against Switzerland.
A trip to face North Macedonia on 3 October follows before a home tie with Slovenia three days afterwards.
And the Belgian said: “We have a good mix between experienced players, new faces, first cap players, young lads, players who are back.
“We have a lot of leaders, we have a lot of players who know how to win games.
“We want to be ambitious in this Nations League. We have to use this Nations League to try things, to experiment things but the most important is to be ambitious.”
