Duo deserve their call - and Gray's day will come

And while speculation linking striker Andre Gray with a call up didn't emerge, Dyche feels he could join club captain Heaton and centre back Keane in Gareth Southgate's plans.

The Three Lions face Germany in a friendly in Dortmund before a World Cup qualifier at Wembley against Lithuania, with Heaton looking to add to his two caps, while Keane is hoping to pull on the jersey for the first time.

Dyche said: "I think it's a good sign that there's a number of internationals here, with Tom and Keano I think for them the culture, environment and the staff here have added to their pathway in being recognised at international level.

"They've been with us long enough to mature with the team and I think that's a good thing for them and a good thing for us. They've been fantastic in what they've done for us."

And on Gray, he admitted: "I think he is still learning, he's certainly still learning about himself in the Premier League and adjusting to the Premier League.

"I think he'll improve from what we do here and he'll improve from being in the Premier League, so hopefully if he continues to do that his day will come."

One man selected ahead of Gray, after three years in the international wilderness is Jermain Defoe, who will line up against Burnley with Sunderland on Saturday: "Jermain Defoe is a fine player. There were stories of other teams trying to sign him for quite a large figure of a player of his age.

"He still looks sharp and he's still scoring goals.

"I think the game's changing anyway – players are looking after themselves for longer, they're staying fitter, there's more support systems."