The Southampton pair Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana have been handed surprise call-ups to Roy Hodgson's England squad for the friendlies against Chile and Germany next week.

The 24-year-old striker Rodriguez has scored three goals in the Premier League this term and joins his club strike partner Rickie Lambert in the squad.

The former Burnley player Rodriguez has made one appearance for the Under-21s, away in Italy in 2011, while the midfielder Lallana has figured at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 level and was also called up to the senior squad for last year's game against Ukraine although he did not win a cap.

Hodgson said of their inclusions: "Adam was with us once a long time ago but he came in late and didn't play, but we did see him in training. We've been following him very closely and he's played a major part in Southampton's rise to the top this season. It was quite obvious we would pick him.

"When it comes to Rodriguez, Danny Welbeck at the moment has been injured. We hope he'll be fit to play but I see in Rodriguez someone who could fill that Welbeck role. He's a wide forward who likes to go forward and attack people even without the ball and get in the penalty box. We think he's played well for Southampton and think this might be an interesting opportunity for him."

Mauricio Pochettino's side have impressed many this campaign and sit sixth after a top-flight start only bettered in the club's history when finishing runners-up in 1983/84. It is success in which an English core has proved a major catalyst, with six homegrown players starting their last top-flight outing at Stoke.

"They have been the team I think that has taken the league by storm," Hodgson said of Southampton's season to date. "No-one mentioned them amongst the top five or six clubs at the start of the season, so congratulations to them.

"There is Adam Lallana, Lambert, Jay Rodriguez and there is a Nathaniel Clyne, who is always in our thoughts. There is James Ward-Prowse and Luke Shaw, who play in the Under-21s. Southampton at the moment are becoming a very good club as far as England are concerned in terms of providing players."

Not only are the trio's call-up a sign of how well Southampton are doing, but goes against the notion that only players at traditionally big clubs get selected.

"I think it is quite useful in that respect," Hodgson said.

"Sometimes one gets accused of only picking from the top teams, but that is not so strange because the top teams normally have the top players.

"That is not just in England, that is in every country in the world.

"It is always nice for players playing at clubs where maybe they don't have quite the same attention, if you like, as some of the other top teams to know they are not forgotten, to know there is chance for them if they play well.

"One thing is for sure, myself, Ray Lewington and Gary Neville, us three in particular, are the ones that really concentrate on the players that are looking to be selected in the squads.

"We follow every team, we follow all the matches. It is not a question of not going to watch this team or that team.

"But, we also focus our attention more on the teams where English players are playing.

"There are games sometimes being played between two English sides that don't have a great deal of relevance to me because they don't have any English players in the team."

Hodgson has also recalled the Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, who last played for England at Euro 2012.

The Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has been included despite fears over his ankle injury while his fellow Gunner Kieran Gibbs also gets a recall.

As expected, the Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster is included and he will challenge Joe Hart for the No1 spot. Norwich's John Ruddy is England's third goalkeeper in a 28-man squad named by Hodgson.

The captain Steven Gerrard is named in the squad despite a recent hip problem.

England squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere

Forwards: Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Daniel Welbeck