Roy Hodgson, the England manager, has acknowledged that he has been eager to get a closer look at Saido Berahino after calling up the West Bromwich Albion striker to the senior squad for the upcoming games against Slovenia and Scotland.

Hodgson admitted the 21-year-old had been in his thoughts ahead of last month's Euro 2016 qualifying double-header against Estonia and San Marino, but the England manager elected to omit him so that the striker could feature in the Under-21s' two-legged European Championship play-off against Croatia.

The Burundi-born 21-year-old has scored seven goals in 10 Barclays Premier League matches for West Brom this season - alongside Scotland midfielders Graham Dorrans and James Morrison - and has now been rewarded by a first senior international call-up.

"The reasons are quite obvious - he's done so well, not only for West Bromwich Albion but also for the under-21 team," said Hodgson. "He's really been in good form. The last get-together he was in our minds but we didn't choose him because of the importance of the two Under-21 qualifiers against Croatia. This time they only have a friendly match, so there's no reason to pass over his credentials yet again."

Hodgson stressed Berahino would be a contender to play in the two games, rather than simply being involved to build up his experience. "When you call players up, you call them up to play and they must come into the group believing they have a good chance," Hodgson added.

"I'm sure Saido will come wanting to play and hoping to play. He's not there for the learning process. But at the age of 21 and getting his first call-up I'm sure he'll understand, like we all do, that he hasn't made it to Wayne Rooney status yet. But his journey starts here and we wish him well on the journey."

Michael Carrick, the Manchester United midfielder, and West Ham United's Stewart Downing were the other unexpected inclusions in the squad. Carrick had been left out of Hodgson's World Cup squad and has only just returned to action following an ankle injury he suffered during the summer. Downing, whose last cap came in May 2012, has also earned a recall after impressing for this season.

Wayne Rooney was included in the 26-man squad and is likely to earn his 100th cap against Slovenia at Wembley a week tomorrow. Among the other attackers in the group are Arsenal winger Theo Walcott - who has recovered from a knee injury that kept him out for 10 months - and Everton's Ross Barkley. He missed the last two get-togethers with a knee injury.

However, Hodgson opted to omit Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and confirmed that the Liverpool striker is suffering from a calf problem, despite not having played since he strained a thigh muscle in September. Hodgson said he had left a message for Brendan Rodgers about Sturridge's fitness, but that the Liverpool manager had not got back to him.

"That was not realistic possibility," said Hodgson of the striker's inclusion in the squad. "He is recovering from the calf injury he picked up. It's unfortunate. We were hoping, of course, to get him back, but it hasn't worked out.

"Our medical staff have had contact. I've left a message for Brendan. The message was that it's pretty obvious that he's not fit and Brendan's not rung back to counter that he actually is."

Hodgson was yesterday obliged to defend Raheem Sterling, Sturridge's team-mate at Liverpool, once again. Sterling was left out of the starting line-up for last month's Euro 2016 qualifier in Estonia after informing Hodgson that he was feeling tired. That led to suggestions that the teenager simply did not want to play in the match and the England manager has stated that his player has been treated unfairly.

"I'm disappointed for him and he knows that but our relationship's a very good one," Hodgson said. "If you say there's things to learn, we will probably both learn from them, although I don't really understand how it's a clear mistake to tell the truth when you're asked questions about why you've not chosen a player.

"He did nothing wrong and I don't think I did anything wrong either. He's going to do wonderful things for England in the future."