Palace boss backing young defender as real contender for Gareth Souhgate’s England squad
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira believes that Tyrick Mitchell should be under consideration by Gareth Southgate for a call up to the senior England side.
Mitchell has started every Premier League game under Vieira and has only missed eight minutes of the entire campaign.
The 22-year-old was rested on Tuesday night against Championship side Stoke City in the fifth round of the FA Cup, with fellow academy graduate Tayo Adaramola taking his place.
Mitchell has not been capped at any England youth levels.
The Three Lions have two friendlies at the end of the month against Switzerland and Ivory Coast as the preparations for the 2022 Qatar World Cup step up.
“I don’t know, but I believe his name will be or should be taken into consideration,” said Vieira, when asked whether Mitchell should be in the conversation for international football.
“It’s difficult for me to say. But for us, he is doing well. He’s growing up, believing more in himself when he’s going on the field.
“He knows and is still learning about his strengths and weaknesses – he has some parts of the game he needs to improve to have this international dimension.
“But when you look at the number of games he’s been playing and the consistent performances, that is positive for him, and his name can be there? I don’t know. But if he plays well with us, there’s no reason why not.”
The Eagles travel to Molineux tomorrow to take on Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are eighth in the table and in the battle to secure European football as the Premier League draws to a close.
When asked whether he could use Wolves as an example for how to break into the upper section of the top-flight, Vieira said: “It’s really difficult to break into the top five or six in the league.
“But when you look at how they managed to keep stability in the last couple of years, stability will give you more chance of being successful.
“We have to be smart with how we build a team, the profile of players we want. A team like us can allow ourselves to make too many mistakes. The way they built a team – like West Ham built a team. This is something we have to look at.”
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD
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