Stoke boss Tony Pulis has tipped Ryan Shawcross and Matt Etherington for an England call-up.
Potters boss says talented pair deserve national call-up
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has tipped defender Ryan Shawcross and winger Matt Etherington for an England call-up.
The Potters manager has put it to the pair to show their potential in Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Manchester City.
Shawcross has already featured on the international scene and has been backed to step up from his role in the England Under 21s line-up to the senior side in the not-too-distant future.
And, with the news that Bolton defender Gary Cahill could be out for some time with a blood clot in his arm, Pulis believes now is the time for the young defender to land that dream hike.
Heaping praise on both players, he believes England boss Fabio Capello would be foolish to overlook them on the road to the World Cup in South Africa.
Fantastic
"The two of them have been fantastic," he said. "Ryan is still a young lad and is learning the game all the time.
"Everything we have asked him to do he has stepped up to the mark and has not fallen short at all and he wants to improve.
"You can take 22 (outfield) players to the World Cup so all the more reason to take him to get used to it.
"Etherington technically on the ball is excellent but the work and the shift he puts in when he hasn't got the ball is phenomenal.
"They (England) know where they are and they have been watching them and will be watching them from now until the end of the season."
Pulis admits that Stoke's league standing hardly makes them jump off the page when it comes to England potential.
The Potters boss, though, believes Capello will look past stereotypes and realise the capabilities of individual players, no matter where they play their club football.
At it
"We are not fashionable, without a question of a doubt, but Capello is his own man," he said.
"If they are 'at it' and doing well as they can and others pick up injuries or drop from then who knows?
"There are still a lot of games to play and if there are injuries Matty and Ryan have got to be putting in a level of performance which makes him (Capello) turn this way.
"I think if they are doing it then he will pick them."
