Gareth Southgate’s reign as permanent England manager gets underway on Wednesday when his Three Lions side face world champions Germany in Dortmund (7.45pm kick-off).

The 46-year-old took over as caretaker boss back in September following Sam Allardyce’s departure, and during his stint in charge, he led England to wins over Malta and Scotland, and draws against Slovenia and Spain.

And the FA decided that the former Middlesbrough boss was the right man for the job, and they will hope that Wednesday night is the first of many high-profile clashes during his reign.

Southgate sprung a few surprises in his 26-man squad for Wednesday’s game, as well as their clash with Lithuania on Saturday, with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Luke Shaw, and the uncapped Southampton duo of James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond included, yet there was no place for Arsenal’s Theo Walcott.

Nonetheless, the England manager will be hoping to see a good performance against Joachim Low’s Germany on Wednesday night in what will be a good measure of where England are at under their new boss.

He may even give some fringe players an opportunity in Dortmund, so here are THREE England stars who deserve a chance against Germany on Wednesday…

James Ward-Prowse

Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse was a surprise inclusion when Southgate announced his squad last week, but he capped off a fine week with a goal in the Saints’ 2-1 loss at Tottenham on Sunday.

The 22-year-old has played 27 times for the England Under-21s during his career, some of those caps coming under Southgate, and has had a decent season at St Mary’s thus far, netting three times and laying on four assists in 21 Premier League appearances.

And when you factor in that he has scored once and laid on two assists in his last four games for the Saints, including a fine display in the League Cup final at Wembley, Ward-Prowse is clearly playing well and in form, and that could see him get a starting berth against Germany on Wednesday.

Ross Barkley

Everton’s Ross Barkley has been in excellent form since the turn of the year, and was deservedly recalled to the England squad this week for the first time since Euro 2016.

His recent exclusions were because of the 23-year-old’s tricky first half of the season at Goodison Park, where he netted just twice in his opening 13 Premier League games of the campaign, and thus led to manager Ronald Koeman occasionally dropping the midfielder from his starting eleven.

However, 2017 has breathed new life into Barkley, who has in ten league matches netted once and laid on five assists for the Toffees, including two in their 4-0 thumping over Manchester City in January.

Barkley is clearly enjoying his football again, and could certainly cause the Germany defence some issues on Wednesday night.

Jermain Defoe

34-year-old striker Jermain Defoe was recalled to the England side this week over three years since his last appearance for his country, in their 2-0 defeat to Chile at Wembley back in November 2013.

Yet the Sunderland forward has been in excellent goal-scoring form over the past few seasons, and this term has once again proven to be the man the Black Cats look to in their bid to stave off relegation from the Premier League.

The former West Ham and Tottenham man has scored 14 goals for David Moyes’ side this season, on top of 15 he netted last term to help them avoid the drop, which has taken his overall club record to 268 goals in 636 matches.

He may not have scored in his last four games, but Defoe is clearly relishing the chance of linking up with the England squad again, and it might just bring the best out of him once again – thus, he could be given a start on Wednesday.