Jamie Vardy continues his resurgence by doubling England’s advantage with cool finish

Defoe, Cahill and Joe Hart are the only players with more than 30 caps.

Jermain Defoe returned to the England starting line-up alongside “best mate” and massive Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery.

But the 34-year-old does not need asking twice. The triangle they formed with Eric Dier looked like a nexus on which a side is being built, with Raheem Sterling intermittently demonstrating that England have one world class winger. I had to keep my emotions in at the beginning with little Bradley Lowery with me.

“Just to be back playing with the lads was a great feeling”.

Gareth Southgate’s side next face Scotland in Glasgow in June.

“I didn’t understand why we were talking about tributes when he’s still got every chance of being in the team”, Southgate said.

“Absolutely. There’s no reason he’s finished with us”, Southgate said when asked if Rooney had a future with England.

“We want competition for places”.

Rashford and Vardy were brought on to inject life into the game, and the latter rounded off a superb move – taking in a wondrous touch from Lallana – to double the lead with just over 20 minutes to go.

Defoe played nearly an hour before being replaced by another player out of his 20s.

Southgate is keenly aware that many of his predecessors as England manager have preferred to impose their will on the squad rather than listen to the opinions of the players.

The Liverpool midfielder saw a deflected shot caught by Ernestas Setkus and then produced a clever pass down the inside-right channel for Defoe, whose shot was blocked by the Lithuania goalkeeper.

Defoe has never been renowned for the quality of his work outside the penalty area, but the former Tottenham star comes alive inside the 18-yard box and he underlined his predatory instincts with a composed close-range finish in the 22nd minute. Their defeat came last time out, when they were hammered 4-0 by Slovakia. Both teams ended the game with 10 men after red cards were shown in the final 12 minutes.

England had come to Wembley to entertain as well as win, while Lithuania made no bones about their intention to stop them.

Gareth Southgate’s side are now top of their group and will be looking to add another three points to their tally when Lithuania visit Wembley. The other team Lithuania also had played six matches so far.

After not featuring during the midweek friendly in Germany, Defoe started the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania on Sunday afternoon, marking the occasion with a goal after 21 minutes.