England manager Roy Hodgson has insisted that his squad will be selected on merit in the build-up to next summer's European Championship in France.
The Three Lions were without as many as 17 players who would be in the reckoning for a squad place during the recent international break, with Hodgson being forced to name the youngest England team since 1959 for their match against France on Tuesday.
However, the youngsters impressed on their way to a 2-0 victory, and Hodgson has warned the likes of Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere that they will not be guaranteed a place in the squad if they are not fit and firing.
"Loyalty is an important quality and one should never dismiss the value of loyalty from player to coach and coach to player but it is a world in which unfortunately if you want to keep your place in the team you have to be playing to a very high level especially when other people are doing well around you," Hodgson is quoted as saying by PA.
"I would never be able to pick a team on loyalty alone. I would have to pick the best players at the time and against France someone like Dele Alli and Eric Dier, were really good.
"They are two players who maybe haven't had a lot of publicity in terms of their chances up to now but I think they are going to get a lot of publicity for their chances going forward."
Alli was among the scorers against France at Wembley, firing in a memorable strike to open his international account on his full England debut.
Barney Corkhill
