Gareth Southgate admits he’s looking forward to working alongside two new players in the shape of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tyrone Mings this month.
The England manager named both defenders in his squad to play Bulgaria and Kosovo, as the Three Lions prepare to resume their Euro Qualifying campaign.
And Southgate has seen real signs of promise from them in their early-season games, with former U20 and U21 international Wan-Bissaka having joined Manchester United from Crystal Palace.
“We watched Aaron a lot last season and I've seen the same things that I saw then on the bigger stage with Manchester United,” revealed Southgate.
“His one-against-one defending is exceptional from his work with Roy [Hodgson], who I think is a really good coach in particular with those areas and manipulation of the ball in tight areas.
“He’s adapted really well to playing under the pressure of a big transfer fee and 70,000 people at home games - and there's a lot more to come, I think.”
Mings has had a slightly different journey to St. George’s Park, having kicked-off his career in non-League with Yate Town and Chippenham Town, before moving into the pro game with Ipswich Town back in 2012.
Moves to AFC Bournemouth in 2015 and Villa this summer have since followed and Southgate admits he’s keen to see how his development can progress further.
“I watched a lot of Tyrone in the Championship last season and I was keen to see how he adapted to stepping back up to the Premier League,” he added.
“He's a really interesting one in that he hasn't played that many league matches because his route to being a professional was slightly different and then his injury when he'd just moved to Bournemouth.
“He's transferred from left-back to centre-half and has really good leadership qualities as well as great athletic qualities and he's composed with the ball.
“I think there's a lot of room to progress as well. In both instances, they're players we think are playing very well but also have a lot of growth and are capable of going onto another level.”
The squad also includes a return to the seniors for young midfield pair James Maddison and Mason Mount, who were both involved in Southgate’s group last October but remain un-capped at senior level.
“James has, with Leicester, constantly hit numbers of assists and goals. You can't ignore that because, wherever he plays, he seems to have an attacking impact on the game,” he added.
“It's good for us to see how he will fit into our way of playing and our system.
“Mason is a player that I've watched come through our England system since he was 16 and we believe there's a top player emerging there.
“I like his mentality - he's a very humble boy - and has great awareness plus a real goal threat from midfield.
“He's still physically developing and there's some room there but he's starting matches for Chelsea and threatening the goal every game - he looks like he's going to score in every game.
“It's not a case, with Mason, of him being in after three games - he's had a year in Holland, a year in the Championship and is now in Chelsea's first team plus he's a European U19 champion with us, so there's a lot of pedigree there that we're well aware of.
“We think that now he's earned the right. Last October we probably put him in a little bit ahead of schedule for the experience, and now he's in on merit.”
The England squad will meet at St. George’s Park next week before facing Bulgaria at Wembley on Saturday 7 September and Kosovo at St. Mary’s on Tuesday 10 September.
