England manager Gareth Southgate is ready to welcome Wayne Rooney back into international football should his Everton homecoming prove successful.

Southgate says Rooney’s return to Goodison Park – where he will make his second competitive debut for his boyhood club on Thursday – enhances his chances of a recall.

“The great thing for Rooney is that he will probably be playing more regular football and so it’s as simple as that,” Southgate told the London Evening Standard. “In the league we only have 70 English players, and so we certainly aren’t ruling anybody out.”

Rooney’s club manager, Ronald Koeman, is sure the 31-year-old, who returned on a free transfer from Manchester United, can win the attention of Southgate again.

“First of all, if you play really good football and produce great performances for your club it is possible that he will come back to the national team,” said Koeman. “But it always starts with the club, his performances for the club and then it’s reasonable that he will go back to the national team. There is the quality of the player, the confidence I see in his football.