Former Sunderland academy graduate Jordan Henderson is 'firmly on track' to feature for England at Euro 2020, according to Gareth Southgate.
There had been question marks surrounding the availability of Henderson after a lengthy injury lay-off, but the former Black Cats youngster was named on the bench as Liverpool defeated Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.
However, the Three Lions boss has revealed Henderson would not have been involved in the squad if he wasn't able to feature in the two warm-up games against Austria and Romania.
Southgate said: "In terms of Jordan [Henderson] we actually think the level of work he's been able to achieve has been very high.
"What we haven't been able to see yet is him on the pitch in a match situation.
"He's firmly on track to be involved in those games and be able to play in those games. There would be no point in bringing him if that wasn't a possibility.
"In some regards he may be ahead of others. He's had a long period out but he's had a high training load without the matches.
" Jack Grealish has had a long period out, has played the matches, maybe hasn't had the intensity of the training so we've got to see how they respond to training with the group and what their recovery is like.
"What other issues that could throw up. These are - although they're heading in a good direction - these are not an ideal situation and we've got four of those with Calvin [Phillips] and potentially Harry Maguire as well.
"We're just going to have to monitor all of those really closely."
England were also given a further boost prior to Southgate's squad announcement. Jurgen Klopp said that that Henderson was 'fine and fresh' ahead of the tournament.
When asked about Henderson's fitness he told the BBC: “He will be fine.
“I don’t know if he will be in the [England] squad but he is fine, he trained the last two days with us, he is fine.
“He can return to training as normal – he will be one of the few players in the squad who are fresh which is good news.”
Elsewhere Southgate said he was "very pleased" with the form of Jordan Pickford following his return from injury.
The former Black Cats number one has come under criticism in recent seasons but still remains Everton's number one goal keeper.
England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Ben Godfrey, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ben White
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Mason Greenwood, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins
