England fans just realising shock ex-Premier League player is one of Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff

England fans are just realising a shock ex-Premier League player is one of Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff.

Tuchel has named his first England squad since his appointment and threw up some huge surprises ahead of taking charge of the national team.

He leads the Three Lions into a new era, with two World Cup qualifiers scheduled against Albania and Latvia.

England host Albania on March 21 before entertaining Latvia the following Monday.

Tuchel will take to the dugout at Wembley Stadium and a familiar face will be part of his coaching team.

Hilario, who played and coached at Chelsea, will form part of Tuchel's backroom staff, alongside No.2 Anthony Barry and performance analysis James Melbourne.

Hilario, 49, ended his 18-year association with Chelsea by linking up with Tuchel. He worked with the German boss at Stamford Bridge and will be England's goalkeeping coach.

Chelsea were reluctant to let the Portuguese do a job-share with England and that led to him handing in his resignation.

England's previous goalkeeping coach, Martyn Margetson, left when Gareth Southgate stepped down last summer.

Hilario arrived at Chelsea as a player in 2006 under Jose Mourinho's reign and joined the coaching staff after retiring.

He made 39 appearances across all competitions and earned one cap for Portugal.

Hilario and Thomas Tuchel during England camp. Image: Getty

Hilario will work with four goalkeepers at England, with Tuchel selecting Everton's Jordan Pickford, Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson, Southampton's Aaron Ramsdale and Burnley's James Trafford.

The quartet are set to compete for the No.1 spot.

On picking four goalkeepers, Tuchel explained: "These are the four goalkeepers that we think we can build our squad on. We want to straightaway give the message that this is a new start for everyone. At the same time, we can see how they work together and how the energy is between them."