Gareth Southgate believes Chelsea star Callum Hudson-Odoi has missed a chance by turning down an England Under-21 call-up.
The 20-year-old winger has been in outstanding form for Thomas Tuchel’s team in recent weeks.
However, it wasn’t enough to secure a place in the England senior squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers matches against Albania and San Marino.
Hudson-Odoi rejected the opportunity to link back up with England Under-21s and Southgate has revealed that he is keen to force his way into the senior squad by impressing at Chelsea.
‘I had a good chat with Callum before last month’s get-together because it is difficult if you are a young player,’ said Southgate.
‘You’ve been with the senior team, he went back to play with the U21s in the last cycle and then to go again in a second cycle, I can understand is a difficult challenge
‘So we would still like him to do that but he wants to back himself with his Chelsea form to get back into the seniors and I totally respect that.
‘So by not being in the Under-21s he misses a bit of an opportunity to impress us and come across if we need players for training and those sorts of things.
‘He has had a couple of good matches for Chelsea. I know Thomas [Tuchel] is guarded about how much he goes with praise on that but it is good to see him back playing and playing more regularly at first-team level and he knows the challenge that’s ahead.
‘But he knows also that we are constantly watching him and he is young and talented enough to mount a serious challenge as we move forward.’
