There are fewer English players in the top flight than ever before, but at least they are performing better than in recent seasons

The increasing number of foreign players in the Premier League means that Roy Hodgson's job of picking a squad is harder than ever, right? Well no, not really.

Much has been made of the recent comments from Jack Wilshere, who suggested that the England team should not feature players who were neither born nor bred in the country. The Arsenal midfielder's choice of words made the headlines, but does Roy Hodgson need to look for loopholes really existent?

The number of English players in the top-flight is at an all-time low, but it isn't all doom and gloom. Ninety-four English players have made at least four appearances in the Premier League already this season, and that is up on the figure from this point in the previous campaign.

Furthermore, the quality of performances from these players seems to be on the rise. If you look back to the same stage in each of the last five seasons, never before have England had more representatives among the league's top 20 players. Seven players have made the top 20 this season, with five of those currently training with the international squad for England's crucial double-header against Montenegro and Poland.

The unlucky duo to miss out are Aston Villa's Fabian Delph and Hull City's Curtis Davies. Delph has picked up a rating of 7.64 thus far, which is enough to make him the joint best Englishman alongside Daniel Sturridge, the Premier League's top scorer. Meanwhile, Davies' impact with newly promoted Hull has been obvious; he has been captaining the side in the absence of Robert Koren and has accrued an excellent average rating of 7.59.

The overall figure of seven Englishman making our top 20 is up from five last season, while back in the 2010-11 season only two of the best 20 players at this stage of the season were available for England (Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney). In the previous campaign the five best Englishman were all experienced, if not internationals by then, with Rickie Lambert joining Peter Crouch, Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Leighton Baines in the top 20.

There's even more reason for encouragement this time around then, particularly in the buildup to the World Cup next summer, with four of the top seven under the age of 25. Ross Barkley, who made his England debut against Moldova in September and has excelled at Everton this season, and Andros Townsend join the aforementioned Sturridge and Delph in the English team of the season thus far, along with young Crystal Palace right-back Joel Ward. That Phil Jagileka (7.29), Baines (7.52), Gerrard (7.61) and Rooney (7.32) – all of whom are expected to start on Friday – also make the XI, shows that a number of Hodgson's stars are bang in form.

The average rating of our best English XI (7.45) is a considerable improvement from the 7.31 at the same stage last season. It's an average that was matched in the 2011-12 season thanks to the remarkable start to that season made by Wayne Rooney, who scored an average rating of 8.88. When you consider the two top-rated Englishmen this season are tied on 7.64, it's clear that the spread of ratings among the team is far more equal and impressive.

In addition, this season's XI have an average age of 26, with only Gerrard (33) and Jagielka (31) in their thirties. It's the youngest English XI at this stage in any of the last four seasons, with that average up considerably to 27 in each of the last three campaigns.

It may be very early days in the current season but not only have the performances of Englishman in the Premier League risen significantly since last season, but the average age of those at the top of their game has dropped. Provided the current squad do enough to qualify for next year's World Cup in Brazil, England could soon be moving in the right direction.

WhoScored Photograph: WhoScored

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Photograph: WhoScored

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