• Roy Hodgson's lack of options lets in Southampton forward
• Rooney picked despite no playing time for Manchester United
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and Southampton's Rickie Lambert have been included in the England squad for next week's friendly against Scotland at Wembley.
Lambert has been called up for the first time for Wednesday's international.
With Wilfried Zaha's inclusion widely predicted, Lambert's selection by the manager Roy Hodgson was the major surprise.
Zaha's Manchester United team-mate Rooney has also been picked despite not playing any pre-season games due to hamstring and shoulder injuries.
Rooney has only played one match this summer, a pre-season friendly against Real Betis behind closed doors, though he trained with the reserves on Thursday moning at his own request.
Hodgson admits the 27-year-old, who has been the subject of two rejected bids from Chelsea this summer, may not be fully fit for the match against the Scots, but insists it was still worth including the striker in his squad.
"It's pretty obvious that he is not fully match fit but the important thing is to have him with us in the squad and to assess how many minutes he can play in the game," the England manager said.
"I have spoken to David [Moyes, the Manchester United manager] and he understands it is important to have Wayne with us and Wayne himself of course wants to be a part of the England set-up coming into these important [World Cup qualifying] games.
"It might not be ideal. He hasn't played the minutes we would have liked during pre-season but it is very good that he is going to be available to join us."
Lambert's inclusion comes on the same day his partner gave birth to a daughter, named Bella Rose.
Lambert was released on a free transfer by Blackpool 13 years ago and then went on to play for a series of Football League sides such as Macclesfield, Stockport, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers before signing for Southampton.
Hodgson considered signing the 31-year-old when he was manager of Fulham after watching him play against the west London team for Bristol Rovers.
Hodgson respects Lambert for making it to the top after such a long journey. Hodgson added: "What really impressed me about him is that this is a man who has come up the hard way starting in non-league.
"He is a man who has worked hard to prove himself over all these years and deserves his call-up at a time when a couple of players like Daniel Sturridge and Andy Carroll, who might have got the nod ahead of him, are unavailable."
Sturridge misses out with an ankle injury he suffered against the Republic of Ireland in May while the West Ham striker Carroll is absent because of a heel injury.
Jermain Defoe has been included in the 25-man squad despite a hamstring injury he suffered for Tottenham against Monaco last Saturday.
Full England squad
Goalkeepers: Ben Foster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young, Wilfried Zaha
Forwards: Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck
via Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/08/ricky-lambert-wayne-rooney-england
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