UNDERSTANDABLY, much of the attention ahead of England’s forthcoming friendly double-header with Spain and France has focused on the potential appearance of Jamie Vardy.

The Leicester City striker is the man of the moment after scoring in nine consecutive Premier League games, and will surely add to his current tally of four international caps in either this evening’s game in Alicante or Tuesday’s match at Wembley. Ideally, Roy Hodgson will give him at least some involvement in both.

Unlike his previous appearances for England, Vardy also deserves a chance to show what he is capable of when playing through the middle. There’s not much point rewarding him for what he has been doing well in the last couple of months, only to then ask him to do something completely different when he plays for his country.

Vardy should be England’s central striker in one of this week’s games, with the other perhaps giving Hodgson the chance to trial Harry Kane as the lead forward with Wayne Rooney playing off him.

It can be argued that Rooney’s complete lack of form means he should be nowhere near the squad, but he is England’s captain and played a pivotal role through most of qualifying. It is inconceivable that Hodgson will not take him to next summer’s European Championships, and highly unlikely that he will be omitted from the starting line-up if fit.

As a result, it is vital that Hodgson uses this run of friendly games to work out how best to utilise his remaining strengths. That cannot be as a traditional ‘number nine’, so with Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck as injury-ravaged as ever, it is important that Rooney and Kane are given the opportunity to begin to build some sort of an understanding.

Yet for all that the presence of Vardy and Kane represents a welcome willingness on the part of Hodgson to look beyond the confines of the squad that underperformed so spectacularly at the last World Cup in Brazil, it is the call-up of another inexperienced figure that could prove to be the most significant development as England attempt to engineer a much-improved performance in France next summer.

Eric Dier is still to win his first senior cap, and he only made his debut for the Under-21s in the summer of 2013. The vast majority of his Under-21 caps came in central defence, with a handful seeing him shuffled to right-back, and prior to the start of the season, his time at Tottenham had been spent almost exclusively in the back four.

That changed in the summer, however, when Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino decided to switch Dier to a holding role at the base of midfield. The 21-year-old’s performances since have been nothing short of a revelation.

Dier’s reinvention has been a major factor in Spurs conceding just ten goals in their 12 Premier League matches this season. Previously derided as flaky and soft-centred, the current Spurs team is one of the most structurally solid and well-organised units in the top-flight, as evidenced by last weekend’s impressive display in the North London derby.

The Northern Echo:

IN FORM: Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier

For all that the likes of Delle Ali and Kane have rightly received plenty of praise for their performances this term, White Hart Lane regulars will tell you it is Dier who has been knitting the whole thing together. Crucially, England have been crying out for someone to do exactly that for the best part of a decade.

You have to go back to the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the performance of Owen Hargreaves to find the last time England were able to call upon a naturally-defensive midfielder in a major tournament.

Countless players have been trialled and jettisoned since, yet England’s openness and susceptibility to both the counter-attack and an astute opposition number ten has proved their Achilles heel on a number of high-profile occasions.

A lack of protection in front of the back four was the key reason why Fabio Capello’s side was ripped apart by Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and also enabled Italy’s Andrea Pirlo to wreak havoc at both the 2012 European Championships and the last World Cup in Brazil.

With a lack of pace at the heart of the back four an issue no matter who is selected from the current crop of centre-halves, England desperately need someone capable of providing some protection by picking up midfielders who are willing to run between the lines. You might get away without such a player against Slovenia or Estonia – you’re unlikely to survive so effectively against Spain or France.

Hodgson has called on the likes of Jack Wilshere, Michael Carrick, Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey and even Phil Jones in a futile attempt to shore up the base of his midfield unit, but none has looked comfortable in the role.

Suddenly, with Dier’s emergence, there is the possibility of being able to field someone whose natural mindset is defensive, and who will not be pulled out of position or find themselves caught between two stools as they attempt to resist the temptation to attack.

Clearly, it is not a given that he will automatically transfer his club form to the international stage. His midfield experience remains limited, and because Spurs are competing in the Europa League rather than the Champions League, he has not been exposed to the world’s best attacking midfielders.

There is only one way to find out if he is capable of handling the jump though, and that is by playing him in both of this week’s games. He should certainly start in Spain tomorrow, enabling him to test himself against a team whose entire playing style is premised on attacking-midfield fluidity, and with James Milner’s injury having depleted Hodgson’s midfield ranks anyway, there would surely be merit in retaining him in the starting line-up against France.

As supporters, we all like to get caught up in the excitement of a striker in form. Yet having watched England embarrass themselves at countless major competitions, it is improving things at the other end of the field that should be Hodgson’s main priority. With that in mind, Dier is England’s key man over the course of the next five days.