England manager Gareth Southgate is getting the most from this pool of childhood talent available to him,” says World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst.
Southgate has called four players for its European Qualifiers including 20-year-old Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount and Leicester playmaker James Maddison.
Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 21, was selected for the first time but was forced to pull from the group on Tuesday.
Hurst – scorer of a famous hat-trick from West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final – says Southgate should be given credit for boosting young English ability, which he says was not common during his playing days.
“During our time, you would have had to come through the club and play maybe a few decades, perhaps longer since I did so, to get recognized for the national group,” Hurst said.
“Now, clearly, we’re picking players for England who’ve hardly kicked a ball – and now I think he (Southgate) has had to do this because there is much less of a pool to choose from.
“But he’s shown he can do this and be successful, by bringing forward these young gamers, unusually, who’ve barely kicked a ball playing in the Premier League on a regular basis.
“In several respects, that’s quite a remarkable accomplishment.”
The 3 Lions have finished fourth in the 2018 World Cup and third party at the summer Nations League finals since Southgate triumphed Sam Allardyce in 2016 as England manager.
Hurst states England have made remarkable progress in such a brief space of time under him.
“It’s been a huge travel in a fairly brief time under Gareth Southgate and his team,” Hurst added.
“It’s quite clear the management of the federal side is absolutely crucial.
“The players are all talking (collectively ), you can observe the relationship and the men talking about how they feel searching for England.
“It’s quite clear there’s an excellent sense of teamwork and camaraderie going on, which in several respects had been a crucial issue at our time and still is today.”
Before hosting Kosovo on Tuesday england keep their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign against Bulgaria at Wembley on Saturday.
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