Walcott misses out as Rashford receives England call

Theo Walcott was among the list of absentees when Roy Hodgson named his provisional 26-man squad for Euro 2016 on Monday.

There was no place for the Arsenal man, while Everton’s Phil Jagielka was also left out. Manchester United teenager Marcus Rashford was however among the panel named by the England boss.

Rashford only broke into Louis van Gaal’s first team at Old Trafford over the second half of the season but the youngster has netted seven goals in 16 appearances for the Red Devils.

That was enough to catch the eye of the England boss, who has included Rashford alongside skipper Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane and Daniel Sturridge in his provisional list of attacking options.

There was also a place for Jack Wilshere, despite the Arsenal midfielder having missed most of the season with injury. Wilshere broke his leg in pre-season and made his solitary Premier League start of the season in the Gunners’ final game against Aston Villa.

Newcastle’s Andros Townsend is also named in the provisional squad after he made a bright end to the season in spite of his team’s relegation.

Hodgson says there is no reason why Rashford cannot do enough to force his way into the final squad, which must be submitted to Uefa by May 31.

“He’s one of the contenders of course. The competition for him is quite strong, he’ll understand that, but I think he deserves to be selected certainly in this larger squad,” said the England boss.

“There’s no reason why if he does exceptionally well he can’t knock somebody off their perch.” England are 9.00 to win Euro 2016.