Gareth Southgate has explained Jesse Lingard's inclusion in his latest England squad.

The midfielder, 26, has endured a difficult start to the season with Manchester United and was dropped to the bench for Saturday's draw with Southampton.

But Southgate says Lingard's form for England has justified his selection to face Bulgaria and Kosovo in the Euro2020 qualifiers.

"I think you'd have to say I've seen him have better spells for United," Southgate explained.

"I think Ole has a young, energetic team, and I think Jesse's pressing and the energy he brings to that has been an important part of what they've tried to do in the first few games.

"The inclusion of Jesse for us is partly because his form for us has always been good.

"I know there was stats on his goals. He was only involved in four games for us last season because of injury – two starts and two off the bench.

"He scored two and had a goal disallowed when he came on in the Nations League game. He had a very good World Cup.

"When you're selecting a team, there's half an eye on club form but also I don't remember a game where he's been really poor for us.

"He has different attributes. I think for him and for everybody else, there is serious competition and if they aren't scoring for us or they aren't scoring for their clubs, that can make things more difficult.

"But, equally, I think it's good that we support him at this moment, in that you could argue club-wise, he's on the fringes and whether he should be ahead of others."