Roy Hodgson recalls Jamie Vardy scouting mission

The Three Lions manager called upon the strikers for the first time on Thursday ahead of next month's meetings with Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Slovenia in Ljubljana. 

Vardy and Austin have both been involved in relegation battles for their clubs this campaign, Vardy helping Leicester City escape the drop, while Austin's 17-goal haul could not keep Queens Park Rangers in the top flight.

However, with injury problems for some of Hodgson's more experienced forwards, and three of his younger goalscorers away at the Under-21s European Championship, the boss says the new pair have a chance to prove themselves at international level and ultimately add to his pool of players.

"When you look at this squad, Daniel Sturridge is out of course, who would normally be there," said Hodgson. 

"Danny Welbeck, we have fears about, we hope he's going to recover and that he will be available for Arsenal, certainly for the Cup Final. But we can't be certain of that because he hasn't played for a while and hasn't recovered from his knee injury yet.

"On top of that, there's Harry Kane and Saido Berahino, who have been with us, and Danny Ings, who probably would have been with us at least on a couple of occasions had it not been for Under-21 commitments."

He continued: "If we can confirm what we have seen with Charlie and Jamie, and they show they are capable of being international players too, then our talent pool up front will be surprisingly big, certainly if you compare with what was available three years ago.”

Hodgson revealed that he has been a long admirer of Foxes forward Vardy, 28, and on a scouting mission during his spell as West Bromwich Albion manager four years ago he saw the Yorkshireman in action.

After being released by hometown club Sheffield Wednesday aged 16, Vardy began to resurrect his career in the youth ranks at nearby Northern Premier League outfit Stocksbridge Park Steels where he progressed into their first-team, before moving to Halifax Town three years later.

But it was during his season at Fleetwood Town in the Conference Premier in 2011 that Hodgson first spotted Vardy, shortly before his switch to Leicester.

“I was at West Brom and he was playing at Kidderminster, which wasn't so far from us," recalled Hodgson.

"He was getting a lot of good reviews and it was an ideal opportunity to watch him play. It was a cold night, a difficult surface, and to be honest he didn't get a lot of chances to show what he could do – neither did anyone else for that matter.

Jamie Vardy celebrates for Fleetwood

"It was a very competitive Conference match but you could see then he had some ability."

He added: "That was the first time I saw him but at the time we were monitoring players but not with a view specifically to sign him.

"Next thing I knew, he'd moved on and gone to Leicester and we have obviously followed him there.

"We think he has some interesting qualities and that this will be a chance to see them at close hand."

Following England's two games in June, they then return to action in September with an away game in San Marino followed by their first home game of the new season against Switzerland.

Tickets for the Euro Qualifier against the Swiss on Tuesday 8 September are now available to order online from www.TheFA.com/tickets. For further ticket details, click here.