Middlesbrough winger Marcus Tavernier trained with England’s senior side yesterday after he was promoted by Gareth Southgate from the Under 20 setup.
The 19-year-old, who has made just 13 senior appearances for Boro, was joined by Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah in the training session.
Fans on Twitter were delighted that Tavernier got the call:
Wow ? brilliant for the lad
— pete robbo (@peterob01353594) September 6, 2018
Top player
— cam (@camrussell14) September 6, 2018
Great to see! Hope you had a great experience Tav!
— Eddy Gladders (@EddyGladders) September 6, 2018
Oh god yes please ??
— Goose mind (@djdannygrey) September 6, 2018
In the face looks like Neymar
— Adam Ramsay (@RaRaRamsay) September 6, 2018
Great
— Seth Rollins BAY BAY (@SethTrollinsGHC) September 6, 2018
Tavv??
— Reagan 🙂 (@HiyaItsRea) September 6, 2018
The teenager is not officially part of the England senior squad, but Southgate was keen to bolster his numbers in training following the withdrawals of Liverpool’s Adam Lallana and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling due to injury.
Nonetheless, it would have been a terrific experience for the player who will hopefully use the call-up as motivation to force his way into Middlesbrough’s starting eleven.
Tavernier has featured in five games so far this season for Tony Pulis’s side, but he has started just twice in the Carabao Cup wins against Notts County and Rochdale.
In the league, he has had to settle for a place on the bench. The midfielder did, however, provide an assist to help Boro come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Millwall on the opening day.