Burnley manager Owen Coyle has championed Tyrone Mears' case for England selection.
Coyle hails Burnley right-back
Burnley manager Owen Coyle has championed Tyrone Mears' case for England selection.
Mears has made a fine start to the season with the Clarets and Coyle believes he deserves to be ranked among the best defenders in the league on current form.
Coyle accepts that Liverpool's Glen Johnson might be well ahead of Mears in the pecking order as Fabio Capello considers his options at right-back for the World Cup.
However, Coyle has urged his player to continue to perform well and press his claims for international inclusion.
"England were struggling for a right-back and, for me, Tyrone Mears is playing as well as anybody in the Premier League," said Coyle.
"It's up to us to find young English players and nurture them, which is what we have tried to do and hopefully one day we will see someone else up there, a Burnley player with an England cap.
"I think it's fair to say that Johnson is a top player and you would think he would be the number one choice for that position.
"But for me, Tyrone Mears has acquitted himself as well as anybody in that position in the Premier League this season and it's up to Tyrone to keep delivering those performances.
Positive
"If he does, as I have said to all my players, then people will look at them and look at them in a positive light. They will see how well they are doing and ultimately that is what they will be judged on."
Mears has already represented Jamaica in an international friendly and is waiting to hear from Fifa whether he would be allowed to play for England.
The defender - who was born to a British mother in Stockport - subsequently discovered that he has no Jamaican heritage.
Whatever the ruling on his availability for England, Coyle is convinced that Mears is rapidly developing into a player of the highest calibre.
"I know that whoever asks him to play for them, he will never ever let them down," Coyle said.
"I think he is getting better by the week, evolving now he has been given a good run-out in the Premier League.
"It is up to him to keep maintaining the standard he has set and within that, look to push on to another level."
