Gareth Southgate could hand Burnley defender James Tarkowski his first senior England call-up for friendlies against Holland and Italy against later this month, claims The Daily Telegraph.
Tarkowski has enjoyed a thoroughly impressive season for Burnley this season and Southgate went to watch the 25-year-old in their weekend win over Everton, as well as team-mate Nick Pope.
Southgate could encounter some problems selecting a back three against Holland and Italy, as Gary Cahill has dropped down the pecking order at Chelsea and Phil Jones and John Stones have struggled with injuries in recent weeks.
The England manager is unlikely to consider Chris Smalling anytime soon after dropping him from his last squad, meaning Tarkowski has a real chance of forcing his way into the reckoning ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
Games against Holland and Italy are realistically the last chance fringe players will have to impress Southgate before a decision is made on his World Cup squad, as the next batch of games England are scheduled to play are their World Cup warm-up matches.
Burnley have failed to win any of the seven league matches Tarkowski has missed this season, while he also features in the current WhoScored Premier League Team of the Season (7.33 rating).
