Joe Hart may not know where he will be playing next season, but the goalkeeper is under no illusions how quickly he could fall off the international map if he makes the wrong call.

Gareth Southgate left Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott out of this particular England squad, and Hart acknowledges that it could be him, or anybody else, next time.

The ease with which England, who face Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Sunday, have carried on without record goalscorer Rooney has proved to Hart that time waits for no man in football.

Asked what life has been like without Rooney this week, Hart, who will captain England on his 70th appearance, said: “You just meet up with the squad, whoever is fit and available. Wayne is a huge presence, but football has got this way of happening.

“You would probably ask the same question if I wasn’t in the squad, but if I wasn’t here I don’t think it would make much of a difference. We just keep going. These are the players for the one game against Lithuania now and we will try to win.”