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Former Liverpool defenders Jarell Quansah and Trent Alexander-Arnold could be set to go head-to-head for a place at the World Cup next summer with England boss Thomas Tuchel facing some tough calls.
During this international break, Quansah made his senior international debut with Alexander-Arnold left out. Both players left Liverpool in the summer, with the former's move to Bayer Leverkusen seemingly paying dividends.
"First of all, it's my job now to make contact with everyone, players like Trent," Tuchel said after Sunday's final qualifying win in Albania. "Players that are on our long list, 55 or 60 players, to reach out to them, be in touch with them, explain to them why they were not here.
"Explain to them what they have to do, where they can improve. Can they even do something or is it just a choice? So this is my job in the next weeks and months.
"Why would I not? We can do group visits. We can do Jude Bellingham and Trent together. And visit the clubs. And some of them we will call.
"But I hate phone calls. It's better on FaceTime. Then I see the expression, at least, and get a feeling for the person. Or I need to visit them. Visit training, training grounds. Let's see.
"Listen, we've just finished this camp and I think it's important that I reach out to everyone, even to the guys we didn't pick so regularly, to tell them where they are and give them honest feedback."
Right now, Tuchel admits that Quansah, who played at full-back against Albania, is slightly ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the race to be selected. There is, though, still a number of months left for things to change.
"I have a lot of trust in Jarell," Tuchel said. "I see his talent, but I see the package. He is tall, he is fast, he is strong in build-up. He is strong in the air.
"I saw him very strong playing for Liverpool in this position so I always wanted to try. And he plays every minute for Bayer Leverkusen since the under-21 Euros. So he is at the moment a tiny bit ahead."
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Tuchel was pleased with England's performances this week, but he won't work with the players again until March when the next international break arrives.
"I think it's more important that we are aware of what we can do, what makes us strong and that everyone has a clear idea of how we want to defend, how we want to attack, how do we want to help each other," he added.
"We just have to accept that not everything can be perfect. Because we have sometimes only one and a half training sessions to prepare matches. And the players have to accept it.
"The level of detail cannot always be right. But the commitment to accept mistakes, the commitment after ball losses... to put the head down, to just run. This has been outstanding through the last camps and I think you can feel it."
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