AGE is just a number to Gareth Southgate, as the England manager shocked fans by calling up 35-year-old Jermain Defoe four years on from the last of of his 55 caps.

With Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney missing through injury, the Sunderland striker has been selected alongside Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy to face Germany and Lithuania the following week.

Kane is the only English player to have plundered more Premier League goals than Defoe this term and Southgate doesn’t see his age as a concern due to his excellent goal return this season. “

It was important not to look at somebody’s age and dismiss them from your thinking,” Southgate said.

“His goalscoring record generally is phenomenal, but in particular this season in a team that perhaps aren’t creating as many chances as other teams. His strike rate is outstanding.

“I didn’t want to look at his age and think he’s finished with England.”

Defoe earned the nod ahead of Andy Carroll, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, all of whom were name-checked at yesterday’s announcement by Southgate, who showed he was not afraid to be bold with his first squad since being appointed on a permanent basis.

Rooney’s omission is even more bizarre given that Southgate admitted the striker could be fit for Manchester United’s clash against Middlesbrough this Sunday.

However, he went on to add that Rooney’s exclusion can in part be attributed to his limited opportunities under Jose Mourinho.

The 31-year-old has started four games in 2017 and only last month he released a statement stating he would be remaining at Old Trafford despite interest from the Chinese Super League.

“I’ve talked with Wayne and I think there’s a chance he’s fit for the weekend,” Southgate explained.

“But also, the injury, coupled with the fact he’s really not had a lot of game time recently, and others have in that area of the pitch, has sort of determined my decision on that one.”

Uncapped Southampton pair James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond will travel to Dortmund next week, even though Southgate confirmed they will be in Poland with the under-21s this summer, while Phil Jones, Ross Barkley, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Luke Shaw were all brought back into the fold.

Yet the inclusion that raised the most eyebrows was that of West Brom midfielder Livermore, capped just once previously five years ago.

In 2015 the 27-year-old tested positive for cocaine and was cleared to return in September that year less than two weeks after the Football Association took the death of his newborn son as exceptional mitigating circumstances.

“The decision to call him up is positional,” Southgate said.

“Without [Jordan] Henderson and [Danny] Drinkwater we need to find some solutions in defensive midfield players.

“He’s a different sort of profile to other midfield players we might have picked.”