Lee Carsley has included Leeds United defender Charlie Cresswell in his England U21 side for upcoming European qualifiers against Serbia and Ukraine – despite the centre-back’s lack of game time for Leeds.
Cresswell, 21, returned to Leeds in the summer after an impressive loan spell at Millwall and then being a part of the squad that won last summer’s U21 Euro Championships. He was expected to start matches.
But, the central defender has found game time hard to come by. Pascal Struijk’s form and the arrival of Joe Rodon has hindered his chances of starting matches. Indeed, just one league start so far this term.
A sub against Cardiff, he started against Birmingham. Unused in the West Brom draw, he came on late against Ipswich on August 26. But from that point, he failed to play in the league until Wednesday night.
But even then, only a late sub. The £4m-rated defender signed a new deal in the summer but he will have hoped to have played more often. Nevertheless, he has been included in Carsley’s latest squad.
It is a shame. Because, Cresswell is a massive talent and hopefully, the future of this Leeds defence. Of course, he has signed a new deal and that may mean he has to sit tight and be patient at Elland Road.
Rodon of course is only on loan and Liam Cooper’s contract expires at the end of the season. Struijk was the subject of interest in the summer and failure to go up may tempt Struijk to look at the exit door.
So, the future looks bright for Cresswell in terms of game time but he would have been hoping for more than what he has been afforded so far. It has not affected his selection in the England U21 side though.
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