Gareth Southgate has said he is investing in England's future by calling up the likes of Conor Gallagher and Emile Smith Rowe.
Chelsea's young star, who is on loan at Crystal Palace, was called up on Sunday as a number of stars such as Mason Mount, Jordan Henderson and Luke Shaw exited the squad, while Arsenal's Smith Rowe made his debut against Albania on Friday.
Gallagher has starred for the Eagles netting four times and providing two assists over the course of ten Premier League appearances.
In his press conference, Southgate was asked whether it was now more difficult for older players such as James Maddison, Callum Wilson and Patrick Bamford to make the squad. The Three Lions boss wasted little time in defending his decision to pick the 21-year-olds.
He said: "We think Conor [Gallagher] and Emile [Smith Rowe] are playing better than others we could have called in. Simple as that. The door is never closed.
"I like the idea of bringing young players in because you're investing in England's future.
"It would be easier perhaps in the short term to bring in an old player but I'm not certain there are older players playing better than those two in the positions they're playing."
Southgate further revealed the England set up had followed Gallagher's progress for a long time and note all of his loan spells.
The former Middlesbrough boss did acknowledge his involvement with England's under-21s certainly aided the ease of this call up however.
This point comes after Southgate conceded he would prefer Callum Hudson-Odoi to also remain in the set-up rather than rely solely on his Chelsea form.
The 51-year-old said: "We've been very impressed with him. We've tracked Conor for quite a long time. His loan spells at Charlton, at Swansea, we knew the staff there very well. At West Brom and now at Crystal Palace.
"At each loan he's done extremely well. Started the season very well at Palace and we talked about him when we named the original squad as someone who we were keen to keep an eye on.
"I suppose it's one of the benefits of being with the under-21s. It was an easy transition for us to bring him across, already covid tested and going from one bubble to the other was straightforward.
"That's not to say he's only here because of that, he's here because he deserves to be here."
