MX23RW : Wednesday, November 13 01:03:18| >> :120:16488:16488:

Gareth Southgate: 'Eric Dier didn't want to be right-back for England Under-21s'

Gareth Southgate reveals that Eric Dier asked to be left out of the England Under-21s squad to focus on securing a spot in the centre of Tottenham Hotspur's defence.

England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier asked to be left out of the squad to focus on improving at centre-back.

Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino has used Dier at right-back for the majority of this season due to Kyle Walker's long-term injury, but the 20-year-old is keen to prove his worth in the centre of defence.

In an attempt to continue his improvement, Dier elected to do extra training with Spurs rather than play in the friendlies with Portugal and France.

"It is an interesting one, we had quite a mature conversation about it and he feels there are parts of his game that he wants to work at," Southgate told reporters.

"Long term we both agree that he is unlikely to be a full-back and is going to be a centre-half. Without wishing Mauricio a problem, I think I agree with that so we said he will stay [with Spurs].

"It took me by surprise a little bit as he would have been in the squad and we thought he did well in Croatia, but he feels his time is best served on the training ground."

Dier's hopes of moving into the centre of defence were handed a boost on Wednesday with the news that Walker had returned to training with Spurs.

ID:188053: cacheID:188053:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2510:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Kyle Walker of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on November 3, 2013
Read Next:
Walker to resume Spurs training next week?
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!