BURNLEY’S Southampton-born striker Danny Ings could be called into the next senior England squad – while Spurs hot shot Harry Kane is almost guaranteed a place.

England boss Roy Hodgson admitted last year that there was a dearth of talented young forwards available to him, which led to then Saints striker Rickie Lambert being handed his international debut.

But now the former Fulham boss has Kane, Ings and Berahino pushing for a place in his squad for the qualifier against Lithuania on March 27 and the friendly in Turin four days later.

Fellow uncapped duo Ryan Mason from Tottenham and Liverpool's Jordan Ibe are also in with a shout of being in the squad for the upcoming double-header, which is announced on March 19.

“Danny Ings has impressed me. I think we need to keep an eye on him,” Hodgson added of the 22-year-old striker, who has scored nine goals for Burnley this season.

Kane was nowhere near the national squad reckoning this time last year, but he is now the most in-form English front man in the Barclays Premier League.

The 21-year-old has bagged an impressive 23 goals in 35 matches this season and his progress has not gone unnoticed by the England manager.

Hodgson is wary of raising expectation levels too high regarding the combative striker but admits that on current form he will find it hard to overlook Kane.

When asked if Kane is ready to play for England, Hodgson said: “Yes.

“Is he worth a place in the squad now? Of course he is. We bought a lot of young players in during my time, we had Saido Berahino in the last squad. He certainly deserves a place in the squad as much as say Saido did.

“Is he worthy of a place like Wayne Rooney, (Danny) Welbeck and (Daniel) Sturridge? That's something he'll have to prove.

“But unless I give him a chance in the squad he'll never get a chance to prove that anyway.

“I like to think I do show a certain degree of loyalty to players who have been playing for a while and who I know I can trust.

“But I also like to think that I'm prepared to give someone a chance when he's really showing with his current form that he's worthy of a place with us.

“He's got the qualities that you're looking for in a centre forward. If you can be a star at a top team like Tottenham at the age of 21 then you're doing pretty well."