Tyrick Mitchell has become the third Crystal Palace player to be called up to Gareth Southgate’s senior England squad this season.
The 22-year-old left-back has been in sensational form for the Eagles this season and has firmly cemented himself as one of their most reliable performers. Mitchell has played the most minutes of any Palace player under Patrick Vieira and has now been rewarded with his first international call-up of any kind, having not previously featured for any of the Three Lions youth sides.
Southgate had confirmed previously that Mitchell had been on his radar after watching him perform well in Palace’s 2-0 win over Wolves at Molineux this month. His inclusion in the squad comes as Chelsea’s Reece James joined Trent Alexander-Arnold in pulling out through injury. James missed Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at the Riverside.
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Mitchell will now link up with teammates Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi, who were both called up by Southgate upon the announcement of the initial squad last week.
The FA's statement read: "Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell and Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters have been rewarded with their first England senior call-ups," the FA said in a statement. "The pair of full-backs will also be joined in the squad by West Bromwich Albion’s Sam Johnstone and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
"This follows the withdrawal of Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Tammy Abraham through injury. It will be Mitchell’s first involvement with England at any level while Walker-Peters, a 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup winner, has amassed caps from U18 through to U21 level."
If either Mitchell or Guehi makes their Three Lions debut in either of the next two games, they’ll become the first permanent Crystal Palace player to play for the England senior team since Andros Townsend in 2016. Chelsea loanee Gallagher made his debut in November against San Marino and will be hoping to add to his first cap in the games against Switzerland and Ivory Coast at Wembley.
After initially missing out on the England squad, Patrick Vieira told reporters that Mitchell need not worry and that his time would come. He said: “It’s not about him being disappointed or putting more pressure on himself – it’s about looking at where he was and where he is today. When his name is mentioned around being an international player and going with England, I think it’s an excitement for him – it’s an ambition.
“My advice for him would be to keep working as hard as he has been doing in the last couple of months and to keep improving. We never know – it may come. I want him to have that on the side of his head – that has to be an ambition for him.”
Mitchell’s journey to England
An academy graduate who broke through last season under Roy Hodgson, Mitchell immediately turned heads with his composure and defensive stability at a young age. Initially vying for a starting spot with Patrick van Aanholt, Palace decided to put a huge sign of faith in Mitchell when they chose not to replace the Dutchman over the summer as he departed for Galatasaray.
But instead of flounder, Mitchell flourished and has since become one of Vieira’s most trusted lieutenants on the field. He’s struck up an understanding with Wilfried Zaha on the left flank and has had some of his best games against the Premier League’s elite players.
Of late, he has kicked on even further and has strung together several man of the match performances as Palace’s form has improved from the dip the team took at the turn of the year.
Mitchell was excellent in the 1-1 draw away at Norwich in February and then even better in the draw at Brentford a week later. He then provided his second assist of the season in the 4-1 win at Watford before starring at Molineux in March in another victory.
Compared to other defenders in the league he has set himself a high bar, too. Only Brentford’s Christian Norgaard (109) has made more tackles than Mitchell (97) so far this season, while he has the second most pressures (582) behind teammate Conor Gallagher (615). He also has a tackle rate against dribblers of 69 per cent (only bettered by Lucas Digne) and he is fifth in the list for most blocks made with 64.
England are due to face Switzerland on Saturday, March 26 and Ivory Coast on Tuesday, March 29. Both games will be played at Wembley Stadium.
