Former Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole has said that he would be more than happy to see Lewis Dunk starting for England in their opening game of the Euros next summer.
The Albion skipper has started two out of England’s last three games, winning the Man of the Match award in their 1-0 win against Australia last month.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Lewis Dunk,” Cole said on the latest episode of the Official Brighton & Hove Albion Podcast. “I watched him play when Brighton were in the Championship at the back end of my career – he’s been here such a long time. I was impressed by him.
“He’s really talented on the ball and has a real instinct for defending, I thought of him as one to keep an eye on. I was concerned before Brighton were promoted about whether he could deal with the speed of the Premier League. People would ask that about John Terry, but John Terry was never beaten.
“Then you see him develop over the years, I was baffled by why he wasn’t given the chance for England. I covered the Scotland game [in September] and he looked at home in an England shirt, I thought he was unlucky not to get the start against Italy, but he’s in the mix.
“You’ve got Harry Maguire, John Stones, Marc Guehi and Lewis Dunk as the four centre-backs. He’s a terrific player and the only sad thing is that it’s come later on in his career, he could have been playing at international level for five years.
“But the main thing is he’s in there now and he’s in the running. I would have no problem with him starting the first game of the Euros, I am really comfortable with him as a centre-half for England.”
Cole, who made 56 appearances for England, believes Lewis has got the ideal character to cope with the pressure of playing for England.
“He’s a captain, he’s been consistent and he’s already shown he can step into the fire as England v Scotland is a big game. I know it was a friendly, but it’s a big game.
“Playing for England is different, I’ve seen so many great players and I could tell after three or four games that they couldn’t play for England because the mentality is different, maybe slightly different in this era because the media scrutiny isn’t as vitriolic.
“In the past, if you played badly for England, you got it, you’d be booed by the crowd and I’ve seen legends of the game – Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, both booed by the crowd. Generational talents.
“You had to have a mentality to play for England. It’s nicer to play for England now and that’s a good thing, it’s a better thing for society. There’s still that element of needing to have a little bit of something in you and Lewis Dunk has definitely got that. He’s got the character for it.”