Interim England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted that he is unsure whether he will be able to keep his 25-man squad together for the upcoming international break.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was one of the players included despite only having made his return to first-team action during Sunday's North London derby against Arsenal, while Theo Walcott could be forced to leave the squad with his wife expecting their second child.
The likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Michail Antonio were among those to drop out of the squad, but Southgate insists that the door is still open for them to work their way back into the reckoning.
"The first thing we have to do with Harry is check how he is after yesterday. I think Spurs, maybe with Dele [Alli] missing, took a decision for what was a very big game for them. We have a big game ourselves so we need to see what level Harry's at when he reports, but it was great to see him back scoring and with a smile on his face at the end of the game," he told reporters.
"We're not certain we'll be able to keep everybody available for the two matches. We have named 25 in the squad for that reason, there are a couple of knocks from Sunday that we're not totally sure about and Theo Walcott might have to disappear off at any time as his wife is expecting. It was very difficult to make the call to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Michail Antonio as well because I've seen them all playing in recent weeks and they've had good performances.
"But we have strength in depth and competition for places and any of these guys could force their way into the squad. I've no doubt they will in the coming months but we have to take a decision for the game on Friday and the game next Tuesday and this is the balance of the squad we went with."
England will face Scotland in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Friday before hosting Spain in a friendly four days later.
Barney Corkhill
