Journalist Michael Bridge has claimed that Crystal Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell was close to being named in the initial England squad.
Mitchell has been one of the first names on the teamsheet for Patrick Vieira this season, having started in all 29 Premier League games so far for Crystal Palace. This season has been a breakout campaign for the young left-back, who featured just 19 times in the league last season.
The full-back was called up to the England squad for the first time due to several other defenders pulling out of the side because of injury issues. The young defender has the experienced Luke Shaw for competition at left-back but he will be hoping to get some valuable experience and push on to cement a regular place in the squad.
Despite being called up late due to other injuries in the camp, Michael Bridge spoke to GiveMeSport and gave some background information on the youngster’s call-up.
“I was told that he was extremely close to getting picked in the original squad,” Bridge said.
TIF Thoughts on Tyrick Mitchell…
Coming through the Palace youth system, Mitchell has been a mainstay in the Crystal Palace defence this season. He has an average player rating of 7.3 over his last five games, has helped his side achieve eight clean sheets, and has had made zero errors that have led to goals, as per SofaScore.
The 22-year-old defender’s call-up to the national squad is hard to disagree with due to his stats and consistency this season. However, it could be argued that if Ben Chilwell was fully fit, Mitchell would be even further down the pecking order. But he has now been given his chance, and it is a great opportunity for him to showcase what he can do.