Pulis Tips Shawcross For England Call-up

From Vital England:

Ryan Shawcross playing for England would be something that few would believe, even fewer would believe that the Stoke defender could do this in time for the world cup finals next summer - but one person that does, with what he told The Stoke Sentinel, is Stoke manager Tony Pulis.

The Stoke manager feels that the 22-year-old will go on to play for England and does not think that a place in Fabio Capello's squad bound for South Africa is beyond him: 'no, I honestly don't. I think if he puts in a consistent amount of performances this year then who knows? Capello is his own man.

'He will pick his own players I am sure, but Ryan has done exceptionally well.'

Shawcross is a player that has had big things expected of him, clearly he has the pedigree due to his Man United upbringing but he did not always seem to have a top-flight future but now seems to have really found his feet at the Britannia Stadium. It is said that he outshone West Ham's Matthew Upson at the weekend, and he is a near certainty to make South Africa.

Pulis has also praised the effort that Shawcross puts in to help himself constantly improve as a footballer, even though he also knows that he can still get better: 'you have to understand how hard he works in training. He will always spend time afterwards doing extra work, and he is a good listener.

'Although he is a big lad, he has good pace. He needs to quicken his feet up around the ball at times, because he will play against top players who will move him around. But he understands that and we have the coaching staff here who are prepared to work and help him.'

Capello has shown that he is not afraid to pick players based on form, so Shawcross does have as good a chance as half a dozen others of potentially receiving a call-up, although I have to admit that I would be very surprised if this came in time for the world cup finals.

Full article: England - Pulis tips Shawcross for call-up.