Newcastle United supporters may well feel as though Dan Burn was deserving of a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad given his form in the last few months. The Magpies centre-back played a key role in helping his boyhood club ultimately cruise to Premier League safety after signing from Brighton in January.
His team mate – who also joined in January – Kieran Tripper has retained his place in the squad for the upcoming matches against Bulgaria, Italy and Germany. Although, he will know just how good Burn has been and could feel that he should’ve been included in the 27-man squad.
A statistic provided by
, which shows the highest average ratings of English players since the last international break, shows that the Toon centre-back may well have been deserving of a maiden call up. Behind Eric Dier – who also missed out – Burn has been the highest rated English central defender since March.
Read more: Newcastle's Kieran Trippier named in England squad as Gareth Southgate announces full list
While there is, of course, more to football than just pure statistics, Gareth Southgate’s promise of including players in his squads based on form during the early days of his England reign continues to prove to be an empty one. Dier and James Maddison will certainly feel aggrieved to miss out on the squad after excellent individual seasons. Meanwhile, like Burn, Ryan Sessegnon may also be frustrated to be left out on the back of some brilliant recent performances as he helped Tottenham achieve a top-four finish.
Magpies fans will be hoping Burn is able to maintain his form next season to increase his chances of making the squad. From the perspective of those on the terraces, there are few things better than seeing a local lad involved within the England squad and it is far too long since someone playing at Newcastle from the North-east has played for the Three Lions.
