‘I HAVEN’T SHUT THE DOOR

nearly four years, but his red-hot form for the Black Cats this season has earned him a recall.

Veteran Defoe, whose last appearance came against Chile in November 2013, has scored 19 goals in 55 games.

And Southgate refused to close the door on an England return for Wayne Rooney (left). The England boss said: “I don’t understand why people are talking about tributes to Wayne Rooney when he still has every chance of being in this team.

“I would rather be talking about the players who are here because there’s no reason to talk about Wayne.

“The ideal scenario is that all of our players will be playing regularly for their clubs, but we only have 70 English players playing regularly in the Premier League.

“Some of those are finished with playing for England – some have retired officially and some have retired unofficially.

“So we have to be openminded. We want the right characters through the door. And there will be moments when a player isn’t playing for his club, but picking him for England may give him a bit of a lift. There is no hard and fast rule.”

And Southgate is trying to create a more relaxed atmosphere around the camp, as he has revealed he does not want the players to call him