England boss Roy Hodgson has given uncapped Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater a first call-up and said the door remains open for inclusion in his Euro 2016 squad.
Drinkwater's exceptional form for the Premier League leaders earned him a place in the 24-man squad named by Hodgson on Thursday for friendlies against Germany in Berlin next week and Netherlands at Wembley on March 29.
The 26-year-old's selection, at the expense of Manchester United's Michael Carrick, shows there is still a chance for players to break into Hodgson's thinking before he names his squad for the European Championship on May 12.
"What he has done has been pretty evident to everybody," Hodgson said.
"He's had a fantastic season in a team that's having a fantastic season. Even last year we were aware of him.
Revealed! Your first look at the #England squad for this month's friendlies against @DFB_Team and @OnsOranje: pic.twitter.com/lye4Ohhpie
- England (@england) 17 March 2016
"In midfield, the competition is quite fierce. On this occasion I thought it was an opportunity to bring him in and see if he can reproduce the type of football and the quality he's shown for Leicester at international level."
Captain Wayne Rooney is among those absent from the current squad because of injury, and Hodgson refused to rule out further newcomers.
The manager added: "At the moment we're looking at a fairly large group, with this group of players, but who knows? There are still five or six weeks left of the season, let's leave the door open.
"It's going to be a task for people to break in -- as it should be, because anyone who breaks in is going to take the place of someone who has been there for two years doing quite well.
"Having said that, I'm not prepared to say this is it. There are players outside of this squad, least of all the injured ones, but also one or two others who could easily have been included."
Hodgson pointed to the example at left-back, where he overlooked Everton's Leighton Baines and Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal to look at Tottenham's Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand of Southampton.
Rose and Drinkwater, who has not represented England since under-19 level, are the only uncapped members of the squad, although the Spurs full-back has been in previous squads.
"On this occasion I deliberately ignored Kieran and Leighton because I know their qualities and, come May, I'll be in a position to still include them if I want to," Hodgson said.
"I chose to take Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand who appeared with us later than those other two, two players we know a little bit less.
"Michael Carrick I spoke to last night. We brought Danny Drinkwater in this time. I didn't want to bring in Michael unless I was going to play him. That doesn't mean to say he's disappeared off the list.
"They're players who have been with us and who deserve consideration. Phil Jones is still injured, and we've got all the other injured players."
Those injured players include Arsenal pair Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.