BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer believes that Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Conor Coady is capable of earning an England call up after his performance against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side ran out 1-0 winners over the Eagles, continuing their strong start to the season, and Shearer was particularly impressed by the 6ft Liverpudlian [Source: Transfermarkt].
“We’ve spoken about [Joao] Moutinho and [Ruben] Neves several times but Conor Coady and Matt Doherty I thought were brilliant today,” he told Match of the Day [06/10; 64:24]. “Coady – his reading of the game, not panicking in tight situations, wanting to play out.
“He seemed very, very confident. Right position there, not panicking, not wanting to boot it away, wanting to stay calm and wanting to play. Reading of the game in front of [Wilfried] Zaha there. He was absolutely magnificent. He’s played at youth level for England… if he keeps on performing like that it won’t be long before he gets a full shout from Gareth Southgate.”
OPINION
Shearer is bang on the money here. Cody was excellent again against Palace and has been throughout the season in a Wolves team that has made the adjustment to the Premier League with ease. There is no doubt that he’s a top drawer player and one of the foundations of Nuno’s side. Shearer is correct to say that if he carries on playing like this he’ll get an England call up. He’s been brilliant this campaign and Southgate has to start paying attention to him. He was mildly unfortunate not to get in the most recent Three Lions squad; you could argue that he deserved a spot ahead of James Tarkowski, and will surely be in serious contention for the next one. Southgate likes his players to be performing regularly at a high level and Coady is most certainly doing that. Nuno has got a settled side at the moment and players like Coady are why he’s made so few alterations to his team this season. The former Liverpool man simply needs to keep up the good work and international recognition will find him soon enough.