Hell freezes over as Jermain Defoe earns England call-up for the first time in four years

Jermain Defoe has been called up to represent England by new manager Gareth Southgate for the games against Germany next Wednesday and Lithuania next Saturday.

Defoe - who hasn't featured for the national side since he made a substitute appearance in England's 2-0 defeat to Chile in 2013 - takes his place in the squad largely due to the injuries of Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney.

Whilst it may come as a shock to many, the call up of Defoe to the England side is richly deserved. Although age is not on his side, the former Spurs striker plays 90 minutes each and every week in the Premier League and has proven since joining Sunderland that he is still one of the best forwards in the top flight.

Defoe has scored on fourteen occasions in the Premier League already this season and has earned praise from fans and media worldwide for his ability to notch on a consistent basis.

Defoe has been regularly overlooked by the England national side since arriving back on home soil just over two years ago, with neither Sam Allardyce or Roy Hodgson seeing fit to call up the ex-Pompey man regardless of his obvious goalscoring talents.

The Sunderland striker is expected to join Leicester City's Jamie Vardy and Manchester United's Marcus Rashford in the squad that heads to St George's Park after this weekend's games, and should he impress further this Saturday against Burnley he could well be in line to gain his 56th England cap when his country take on Germany at Signal Iduna Park - the home of Borussia Dortmund - in six day's time.

And whilst it may well be in our own interests to want to protect Defoe and keep him here on Wearside - after all, he is incredibly important to us and our chances of survival - many will find it difficult not to feel pleased for Jermain. His contributions to our cause since moving from Toronto in January of 2015 have arguably surpassed those of just about any Sunderland player in the last twenty or so years, and whilst we do find ourselves bottom of the Premier League it is nice to see one of our players deservedly get some credit for their hard work and efforts.