NEWCASTLE’S Lewis Hall says it has not fully sunk in that he is now an England international after producing a composed debut that belied his nerves and shock at being brought on.
The national team is blessed in certain areas of the pitch but left-back is a problem position, given the dearth of options behind injured Luke Shaw and out of favour Ben Chilwell.
England have versatile players able to fill in there, but out-and-out left-back Hall showed he could be the long-term solution when introduced as a half-time replacement for injured Ezri Konsa.
The 20-year-old put in a promising performance as Lee Carsley’s men secured a key 3-0 Nations League victory in Greece, where his mum and dad were in the Olympic Stadium stands to see the Newcastle defender’s debut.
“We were warming up like you do at half-time as subs,” Hall said of his introduction. “Obviously, I’ve seen what happened to Ezri in the first half and he just said for all the defenders to keep warm and stuff.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really expecting to come on just because of the position that Ezri plays.
“I think it was (performance coach) Chris Jones who told me and I couldn’t quite believe him at first.
“Luckily, I had another 10 minutes as well then to get myself ready and prepared to come on. It’s amazing. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet, really.
“I’m sure I’ll lie down tonight and realise what’s happened. It’s an amazing feeling for me and really happy to get the win as well.”
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Put to Hall he looked composed and nerveless on his debut, he said: “I did feel a bit nervous before coming on.
“But I think when you’re out there and you sort of get your first pass away and you’re in the game, you just treat it as any other game, really.
“There’s so many talented players around me that I knew anytime I get the ball that there’s always going to be options.
“There’s so much quality in the team, so it’s amazing to play with them players as well.”
Hall’s main focus on Thursday was collective success rather than making his England debut, which he did alongside fellow new boys Curtis Jones and Morgan Rogers.
That is why getting 45 minutes off the bench was a “bonus” on a night when victory was key, with the result meaning they will seal promotion back to the Nations League top tier if they beat the Republic of Ireland.
Hall could make his first England start in Sunday’s Wembley encounter, which is the final match before Carsley hands over to new boss Thomas Tuchel – the man who gave the full-back his professional debut at Chelsea.
“Personally, I’m just lost for words really,” the left-back said when asked about England’s problem area.
“Sometimes it’s difficult in football to really understand what happens until (down the line).
“Everything happens so quickly they don’t really get time to sit there and take it all in. At some point I’m going to have to do that, but, yeah, I’m really happy for tonight.
“Like you said, there’s not many left-backs but I’m just trying to take everything game by game and keep trying to play well for England whenever I get the opportunity and keep playing well for Newcastle whenever I’m playing as well.
“If I continue to do that then I’ll be in a good position.”
