Wayne Rooney, Aaron Ramsey and Raheem Sterling miss out in Matt Le Tissier's Great Britain and Ireland XI

We challenged Soccer Saturday pundit Matt Le Tissier to pick his best XI from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland ahead of the international friendlies.

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland will be looking to build towards Euro 2016, while Scotland, who have no players in Le Tiss' line-up, are also in action.

The former England forward has selected just three players outside of Roy Hodgson's squad, with Wales and Swansea's Ashley Williams preferred over Gary Cahill, John Stones and Phil Jagielka.

The world's most expensive player Gareth Bale unsurprisingly gets in but there's no room for fellow Welshman Aaron Ramsey.

From Ireland he's gone for Seamus Coleman over Nathanial Clyne and Kyle Walker, while Jamie Vardy is selected ahead of Hodgson's regulars Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling.

Here's Le Tiss' line-up in full...

GOALKEEPER - Joe Hart

Probably the most straightforward of picks, with Joe Hart the best goalkeeper and the only one from England with the experience that you'd want going into a major tournament. His main competition for a place in my side is Jack Butland and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in Hart's absence.

DEFENCE - Seamus Coleman, Chris Smalling, Ashley Williams, Ryan Bertrand

I've gone for probably the best player on the ball from the right-back options in Coleman, he also has a better delivery than the likes of Clyne or Walker. On the left I've gone with Bertrand, who was Southampton's player of the year last season and is the most consistent of the full-backs available.

In the middle, I've gone with Smalling, who seems to be improving every game, while I've got Williams next to him. He's a good old-fashioned centre-back and was one of the key figures for Wales during qualifying. Their defensive record is often overlooked because Bale gets the headlines but they conceded just four goals in 10 games.

Le Tiss' Sky Bet tips

Find out what Le Tiss is predicting for Germany v England here.

MIDFIELD - Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Ross Barkley

Dier looks increasingly comfortable in his role and has the versatility to drop into central defence if need be, which he does for Spurs when the full-backs push on.

As for Alli and Barkley, they've both had very good seasons and are maturing into exceptional players. Dier allows them to express themselves and there's not many more exciting young players out there right now.

Ramsey misses out because he hasn't been anywhere near as good for Arsenal this season as previous campaigns. I'm not sure whether he's been carrying an injury or something but he hasn't seemed as positive in getting forward.

FORWARDS - Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy

Bale obviously has to be in there. He's had his critics at Real Madrid but if you look at his scoring record it's still impressive and he's invaluable for Wales. Teams know if they can stop him then they're going to stop Wales.

As for Harry Kane, a lot of people thought he was going to be a flash in the pan but he's had another outstanding campaign.

Jamie Vardy goes in there as well for his 19 goals this season. He's been a revelation and while the goals have dried up recently he's still contributing a lot with his work rate.

I can't see Roy Hodgson playing him though as I think he'll go with Barkley, Alli and Rooney supporting Kane. 

England Specials

Who will start in England's first game? Find Sky Bet's England's XI specials here.