England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted he considered calling up Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha to the national squad before opting for Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard.

Lingard joined the Three Lions squad on Sunday after his Old Trafford teammate Michael Carrick and Leicester forward Jamie Vardy were ruled out of tonight’s friendly against France.

Zaha has been in fine form for the Eagles this year and Hodgson has revealed his name was in the equation when searching for replacements.

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“We did consider him, yes,” Hodgson said of the Crystal Palace winger.

“He came in a similar type of player. They're both wingers. We did consider him, but we decided on Jesse.”

Lingard, 22, has been called up despite only playing 193 minutes of Premier League football.

United boss Louis van Gaal has even stated that Lingard is not ready to play at an international level.

“I don't think he was wrong to say that,” Hodgson, 68, said.

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“Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't have been considering Jesse at this time, even though he's a very interesting player. I can understand why he said that.

“But the situation has changed enormously. He gave his blessing without any problem whatsoever. It would be unfair pushing that back on him.”

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