Alan Shearer believes that Gary Cahill's place in the England starting line-up is assured for as long as Chris Smalling is consigned to the sidelines.

Sam Allardyce went with the duo of Chelsea's Cahill and Manchester City's John Stones at the heart of the defence during England's 1-0 victory over Slovakia on Sunday and it looks like the two players are the new Three Lions' boss' first choice centre-backs.

This means that Smalling will have to wait in the wings for his opportunity and Shearer believes that Cahill will keep his place in the England starting XI for the foreseeable future as Smalling is currently struggling to get minutes at Manchester United.

Shearer stated in The Sun: "Cahill's place is safe as long as Chris Smalling is on the sidelines at Manchester United, with Jose Mourinho clearly preferring Daley Blind as the man to partner Eric Bailly."