Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has explained the omission of Udinese striker Antonio di Natale from his squad.

The veteran again leads the scoring charts in Serie A.

"Di Natale is a player who is doing very well, but he is 34 and I have to give some consistency to our rejuvenation by focusing on players who are 25 or 26.

"Then if by March Di Natale has scored 25 goals I'll call him up. It's easy to integrate a player like Di Natale - he has quality and the experience to fit in easily with the national side."