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England caps should be earned on merit – not handed out to form-horses who have played two decent games at the start of a season.

I have nothing against Andros Townsend or Ross Barkley, who are both fine young players, but have they really done enough to warrant their call-ups into the squad for two World Cup qualifiers?

Last season, both went out on loan in the Championship – although Townsend went on to join QPR’s relegation battle in the Premier League – so their rise to the full England squad has been fairly meteoric.

But to me, these selections are more of a reflection on who they play for, rather than how good they are.

There is a black hole, halfway between London and the North West, called the Midlands.

And if Roy Hodgson popped in there to watch Aston Villa, surely he would know that Gabby Agbonlahor and Fabian Delph had been playing out of their skins.

I will have to be careful, or at this rate Villa fans might start to like me after I tipped them for relegation last season, but if sustained form is the main ­criterion for international honours, it’s illogical that Townsend and Barkley have been picked ahead of Agbonlahor and Delph.

Why have those two Villa boys not had a look-in?

If you need to have played for the Under-21s recently, or you have to play for a club in the top half of the Premier League, Hodgson should say so.

But if you are picking an England squad based on current form, there is no way Agbonlahor deserves to be overlooked.

He tore Arsenal to shreds at the Emirates on the opening day of the season.

Anyone who saw him that day would have marked him down as potential England material.

He was sensational.

So why has Townsend, who was superb for Tottenham in Tbilisi and a handful against Swansea at the weekend, got in ahead of him?

Or Ashley Young, who has played only 20 minutes of ­football since returning from a long-term injury, for that matter?

Could it be that they play for “fashionable” clubs?

If ­Agbonlahor and Delph played for a top-four club, would they be in the squad?

My guess is, yes they would.

Don’t get me wrong: Barkley is an exciting talent, and I believe he will go on to be top-drawer one day.

But two promising games for Everton don’t make you a legend.

This is not the first time I’ve been mystified by Hodgson’s selections lately.

His hunch in picking Rickie Lambert against Scotland paid off handsomely – and I was delighted for the Southampon striker that he came off the bench to head the winner.

But if he was good enough to play for England before the Premier League campaign had kicked off in August, why was he not good enough to make the squad last season, when he scored 15 goals for Saints?

What changed over the course of the summer?

It will be interesting to see how the pecking order reveals itself during the coming World Cup qualifying double-header.

Will Lambert keep the shirt or will Jermain Defoe – excellent player, good strike-rate for his country, but not currently in Tottenham’s first XI – get the nod ahead of him?

If England fans are confused by Hodgson’s logic, they are not alone.

Click here for Robbie's view on the pressure AVB is under, Liverpool vs Manchester United and lots more.