Gareth Southgate’s desire for his players to gain further tournament experience will leave him facing key decisions next summer, with members of England’s senior squad still eligible and eager to feature at the European Under-21 Championship in June.

Seven members of the squad for the Nations League ties against Croatia and Spain are eligible to play for Aidy Boothroyd’s junior side for the finals in Italy and San Marino. Harry Winks, who is actually 22 but was born after the 1 January 1996 cut-off, has publicly expressed a willingness to play for the under-21s next summer, with decisions to be made over Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell and Joe Gomez among others.

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Regular seniors such as Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford, who gained a 29th senior cap in Seville and has now scored in three of his last four matches at that level, also technically qualify to represent Boothroyd’s side, who secured their qualification with an emphatic 7-0 thrashing of Andorra last week. They also won 2-0 against Scotland at Tynecastle on Tuesday night. But while those who have played extensively for their clubs might expect to be retained by Southgate, the manager could deem there to be merit in others gaining game-time with the juniors.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was omitted from the most recent senior squad but had played a part at last summer’s World Cup, would also be eligible, along with the teenagers Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount. England face Euro 2020 qualifying fixtures in early June, with the Under-21 European Championship quick to follow for a fortnight.

England Under-21s last reached a final of a major tournament back in 2009, albeit the majority of his current squad have already won titles with the under-17s, under-19s and under‑20s. Boothroyd’s instinct may be to stick with those players who have secured the team’s qualification, but the emphasis placed on youth by Southgate – the team who won in Spain was the nation’s youngest selection since 1959 – has left all the representatives with options.

Asked if he would be averse to dropping back into the under-21s to experience the summer tournament, Winks, so impressive against Spain on Monday as he gained only his second cap, said: “No, of course not. The more games I play the better for me. I have missed a lot of football with my ankle injury and I’ve had a lot of problems with it. Still, to this day, I have to manage it at times, but playing for your country is an honour, regardless of the level: under-21s, under-19s, under-18s, under-17s.

“Every level is an absolute honour for me, but especially the seniors. Right now I’m trying to focus on playing for the seniors as much of the time as I possibly can and, obviously, going back to club football and trying to impress and stay in the team there at Tottenham.”