Roy Hodgson: Opportunity knocks for Eric Dier and Dele Alli

Roy Hodgson believes next week's trip to Spain to face the current European champions is an ideal opportunity to assess his squad as the build up to Euro 2016 continues.

The Three Lions will spend time in Alicante ahead of the game with Vincente del Bosque's side on Friday 13 November before returning home to take on France in the Breast Cancer Care International at Wembley four days later. 

Tottenham Hotspur's Eric Dier, who has played 24 times across various England youth teams, has received his first senior call-up along with three others from White Hart Lane, and Hodgson believes Dier's recent form has earned him a chance. 

“Eric has done very well," said Hodgson. 

"In the centre of midfield position with a more defensive mindset, we do not have a lot of our players available to us. We are more blessed in having forward players or forward-looking players. 

“It was a good opportunity for him having seen him do so well for Tottenham in the defensive [midfield] role to see what he can do for us. 

“He deserves his chance because in a very good Tottenham team he has been a key figure throughout the start of the campaign, so we are delighted to welcome him."

The England manager continued: "The same applies to Dele Alli who is another young man who we took with us on the last occasion. 

"He impressed us and continued to impress us at Tottenham and I am happy to give him another opportunity too.”

Everton defender Phil Jagielka, Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, and Arsenal pair Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are among those unavailable for selection through injury or fitness concerns. 

However, Jagielka's Goodison Park team-mate John Stones and Manchester City's Fabian Delph return after missing recent games for England due to injury. 

“This is a great opportunity for us to have a look at some of the players who have been in the squad a lot of the time but maybe haven’t had as much game time as others," said Hodgson. 

“It is pretty much a group of players who have been with us for a period of time and there are not so many newcomers. We are certainly not bringing people in from leftfield who have not been seen in the last 18 months or so. 

Here's Roy Hodgson's 23-man England squad for games against Spain and France. https://t.co/GA3bJJL3BQ pic.twitter.com/nY2rcW9cbw

— England (@england) November 5, 2015

“It is an opportunity to learn more about the players that we believe in and give them a chance to stake an even greater claim to being in the 23-man squad at next year’s tournament and test ourselves against two top-class opponents. 

“France and Spain at the moment are two of the top teams in world football.” 

Hodgson added: “We hope [three days in Spain] will be a nice change of environment and it is part of our general thoughts going forward about what we would want to do in June 2016. 

“We want to get players used to a change of environments and get them used to different places to play and stay, and this was a chance for us to have an early start in that respect.” 

It has been a good week for England captain Wayne Rooney after he scored his 237th goal for Manchester United, equalling the tally of the club’s second highest goalscorer, Denis Law. 

Wayne Rooney bagged Man Utd's winner against CSKA Moscow

It was Rooney’s first goal in five games and he is now just 13 short of overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton as United’s all-time leading scorer, something he did at international level in September. 

Hodgson added: “It was nice to see him score a crucial goal in a Champions League match so I congratulate him on that. 

“He has just turned 30 and has just equalled Denis Law’s record, which are both milestones, so this autumn has been a great period for milestones for him and I rejoice with him.”

Tickets for England's Breast Cancer Care International against France at Wembley on Tuesday 17 November are still available. Click here to buy online.