Gareth Southgate insists the door is still open for new players to force their way into his England squad for the European Championships next summer.
The England boss has handed out eight debuts across the last two fixtures as he continues to cast his eye over the talent at his disposal.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Bukayo Saka, Harvey Barnes and Reece James all picked up their first senior caps in Thursday’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales.
That followed on from debuts for Conor Coady, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in last month’s 0-0 Nations League draw in Denmark.
So, while Southgate admits he should be whittling down his options ahead of the rescheduled Euros next summer, he refused to rule out more players breaking through before then.
“I will never say never because young players these days emerge so quickly and can advance so quickly that they can really shoot themselves up the pecking order,” he said.
“You would imagine we would like to be settled, but we are going to have three games next month and three in March which is going to be complicated as well.
Wolves defender Conor Coady made his England debut last month
“We feel like we want to narrow down the pool and at the moment we have got a very good idea of what the majority of the squad will look like but there are definitely places up for grabs.
“Somebody like Dominic Calvert-Lewin is showing a real strong case to force his way into our thinking more consistently and yet against Wales was the first time he has been on the pitch for us so that is a prime example of what is possible when form is good.”
Marcus Rashford has been made an MBE for services to vulnerable children in the UK
Rashford awarded MBE for services to vulnerable children
Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford has been awarded an MBE for services to vulnerable children in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours list was due to be published in June, but was pushed back to enable nominations for people playing crucial roles during the first months of the crisis.
Rashford, 22, successfully lobbied the Government into a U-turn over its free school meals policy during lockdown, ensuring children in need would receive meals across the summer.