Gareth Southgate has offered Jermain Defoe hope of featuring for England at the 2018 World Cup if he maintains his form in the Premier League after the striker marked his return after three and a half years in the international wilderness with the first goal in the defeat of Lithuania.

Defoe, who will be 35 when the finals begin in Russia, scored his 20th goal for his country midway through the first half – and his first for England at Wembley in seven years – as Southgate’s team maintained their position at the top of Group F. The Sunderland forward has 14 goals in the Premier League this season, for the division’s bottom club, and had arguably benefited from the absence of Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge and Wayne Rooney in the current squad, but will stay in contention at international level while his form remains buoyant in the top flight.

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“I think we’ve got to look every time we get together as to who is in form,” said Southgate. “I don’t know if we can have a distinct pecking order because players who are playing well deserve the opportunity. If we are going to be successful we have to have that competition for places. The reality is we will always lose players to injury – we’re never able to pick a full cohort – so it’s important we can call upon the likes of Jermain and that he can have the impact like he did today. If he scores like he is in the Premier League, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be involved in 2018.

“It was a great moment for him. He was thrilled to be back involved in the squad and he’s enjoyed his week immensely. He’s been a good senior professional to have around the team, both in terms of the way he’s trained, his professionalism which has been great for the younger players to see and his finishing in training and then today, which we expected really. I would have put my house on him scoring at some stage against Lithuania. He’s had a really positive impact on everybody. We’ve selected him on form. We’ve got really good competition for places. We need to have that.”

The suggestion that Defoe must thrive in the Premier League carried implications that he might drop off the radar should Sunderland be relegated and the striker remain on Wearside. “I guess the ideal world for all our players is they are playing regularly at a high level,” said Southgate. “The flip-side is we don’t have a huge pool of players to pick from, so we have to balance off a few different things. I can’t constrain myself on selection entirely but I know ideally what I’d like to have. His performances and his goalscoring form this season have counted for him.”

Jamie Vardy, a second-half substitute, added England’s second goal against Lithuania with Southgate also praising Raheem Sterling’s impact over almost an hour on the pitch. The Manchester City winger, who had sat out the midweek friendly loss in Germany, had felt tightness in his back prior to kick-off and again at half-time and was withdrawn with that in mind, and his club’s trips to Arsenal and Chelsea looming large.

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“He was a bit tight in his back before the game and at half-time, so that was partly in my mind,” explained Southgate. “With creative players, they’re going to try things. Sometimes they’ll come off and sometimes not. I also felt we had Marcus [Rashford] and Jamie who might threaten behind a bit more and Raheem likes receiving to feet. So that was the decision I took.

“He’s a player we really like. We don’t have a lot of players in the country who can beat people in one versus one situations, and he’s explosive in those types of areas. It’s a young team today, and he’ll get better. He’s improving all the time and has the hunger and desire to improve as well. He’s a ballsy player and I like that about him as well.

“I’ll not eulogise over the performance but it’s job done. The group is in our hands, which is the most important thing. We still have a lot to do. The home games are the important ones in terms of direct opposition in positions two and three. But we know what Scotland will be like and we have to play on a plastic pitch in Lithuania. And we have to keep improving with every performance. But the overall week has been positive. The players can see the direction in which we want to head. For sure we’ll play better than we did today.”