England pick Rashford

Manchester United's teenage sensation Marcus Rashford and Newcastle United winger Andros Townsend were named in a provisional 26-man England squad for Euro 2016 on Monday.

The uncapped Rashford, 18, has burst onto the scene with United this season, scoring seven goals in 16 games, while Townsend, who won the last of his 10 England caps in October, has impressed since joining Newcastle from Tottenham Hotspur in January.

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson were both included after recent spells on the sidelines, but there was no place for Wilshere's club-mate Theo Walcott.

Explaining Rashford's call-up, England manager Roy Hodgson told a press conference at Wembley: "He deserves to be selected. It'll be interesting to see what he can do, even if he only has one week (in training) before I name the final 23.

"There's no reason why he couldn't knock someone off their perch (and earn a place in the final squad). But that will be harder than some people expect."

Hodgson must reduce his squad to 23 players for the tournament in France, which sees England drawn alongside Slovakia, Russia and neighbours Wales in Group B.

Arsenal pair Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck had already been ruled out of the tournament by injury, while Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has not returned to action since sustaining a double leg break last September.

Everton centre-back Phil Jagielka was another high-profile absentee, having struggled with injury in recent months, while there was an unexpected call-up for Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph.

SQUAD
 

GOALKEEPERS
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley)
 

DEFENDERS
Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
 

MIDFIELDERS
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
 

FORWARDS
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, capt), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)