HAS DAVID DUNN ENOUGH?

IN a move that surely underlines the England manager's desire to reward those who play well no matter how old they are, Sven-Goran Eriksson has declared that Blackburn midfielder David Dunn may well be asked to make the step up from the under-21 side to the full England squad in the near future. Should he impress, Dunn may well be in line to make the final squad for the World Cup next year, and Opta take a look at his form during 2001-02 to assess whether this is a good idea.

With a reputation for 'making things happen', Dunn's distribution is the key to his game. So far he has been reasonably accomplished in his first Premiership campaign, finding a team-mate with 76% of his attempted passes - equal to the average for the division.

As yet, however, he has managed to provide just a single assist in the Premiership. Sadly it was no telling pass that split open the defence, but a simple ball to Tugay who rammed home from 25 yards out. Nonetheless, the 21-year-old is sure to provide a fair few incisive balls before the season is done.

In attack, Dunn has given Graeme Souness more results than any of his strikers. With three goals to his name the Blackburn midfielder is the club's top scorer at present, having netted twice at Highbury as well as putting away one of the seven goals against West Ham at Ewood Park.

All this has given him a more than respectable 17% goals-to-shots ratio - one that most Premiership strikers would be happy with. He is a clearly a player who likes to get forward and have a go himself, and with the form of Paul Scholes currently in question he may well be the man Eriksson needs to play behind his striking pair.

Perhaps surprisingly, one area of Dunn's game that needs developing is his defending. He has gone in for just 13 tackles so far this season - a fairly lowly tally - and has let the ball slip from his grasp after five of those attempts. On the international scene there can be little doubt that closing down opponents and winning the ball is a crucial part of any player's game, so this is clearly something that needs to be worked on.

However, no sooner was Dunn's name mentioned in connection with the full England side than pundits began to wonder if he could be the man to fill the team's troublesome left midfield position. For this he will need to be able to cross the ball cleanly, and a 24% completion rate in the Premiership at present shows that he is at least aware of the need to be accurate with the ball at his feet in wide positions.

On current form there can be little doubt that Dunn is capable of becoming a class act for his country. His recent outings as captain of the under-21 side have shown how exceptional he can be against top-class opposition - his extraordinary solo goal against Holland last Friday merely underlined the fact.

However, whether he is yet ready to make the grade at full international level remains to be seen, as there still appear to be a few rough edges to his game. That, of course, is precisely why he may well be selected for England's next friendly in February, when there are sure to be a few senior players whose position is not yet secure who will be looking over their shoulders warily.