England coach Roy Hodgson is delighted with the young players coming through.

Hodgson praised 'technically good' young players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck and Kieran Gibbs and called on them to put pressure on established England stars like Wayne Rooney and captain Steven Gerrard in the run up to Brazil.

The England boss told Fifa.com: "There's no doubt we're going to see a vast improvement over the coming ten years, and I think you see it already if you look at the young players that are coming through today. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Cleverley, Bertrand, Gibbs, Wilshere - in all of these players you can see that technically they are of a very good level. It can only get better.

"I'm pleased that they have responded, but not proud. When you select a squad of 23 players, there is plenty of space to put some in there who arguably might not be ready today. Bearing in mind if we're going to qualify for Brazil, it's nearly two years' time.

"Who knows? Some of these young players who are around the fringes of our squad - getting some experience, getting a feel of what it might be like to be a Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard or Ashley Cole - might, in two years' time, be right up there alongside these players, might even be taking their places if these players can't keep up to the standard we've acquired."