England manager Roy Hodgson has defended the inclusion of Ross Barkley and Luke Shaw in his latest squad.

The pair have struggled for form recently, but Hodgson has kept faith with the youngsters as England prepare for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania.

Shaw has started just 11 Premier League games for Manchester United this season, while Barkley and Everton are battling relegation having qualified for the Europa League last season.

"If I think these guys could be very important in 2016, now is the time to show that confidence in them if you like," Hodgson said, according to BT Sport.

"Maybe coming away to a different environment, coming to somewhere where the pressure's off a little bit, to be the first name on the first team sheet, training players they don't know so well, maybe it could even help them."

After Friday's fixture against Lithuania at Wembley, England will face Italy in a friendly in Turin next Tuesday.