Gareth Southgate hints at Levi Colwill debut as England seek Mauricio Pochettino inspiration
Gareth Southgate has admitted that he could take inspiration from Mauricio Pochettino and utilise Levi Colwill on the left side of defence ahead of England fixtures against Australia and Italy. The Chelsea defender was selected for the Three Lions squad alongside fellow Cobham-product Conor Gallagher, as Ben Chilwell's hamstring injury against Brighton sees him miss out on a call-up.
Colwill has featured exclusively as a left-back in the Premier League this season, having impressed as a central defender coming through the Blues' development squad and in loan spells with Huddersfield Town and Brighton.
The 20-year-old defender has yet to make his England debut having trained with the senior side in the summer before earning his first call-up in September ahead of fixtures against Scotland and Ukraine. He did not feature on that occasion but with Luke Shaw also still out due to injury, Southgate is short of options on the left side.
Upon the announcement of the England squad, the Three Lions boss was asked about the possibility of Colwill being able to help out.
He said: «Yeah, very much so. We're conscious most of his football has been as a centre-back and I think it's his preference and strongest position but equally we're without a lot of experience at left back and he's playing there regularly. We've got some other centre-backs who can fill in at full-back areas as well. It's an area we need to find a little bit out about one or two players because that depth in that position in particular in the league is not strong. Levi, we really like. He had a fantastic season last year with Brighton, excellent Euros with our 21s, he's adapting well to life back at Chelsea. He's got a real maturity about his game. We're very hopeful
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