Dean Smith is confident that England manager Gareth Southgate will be tracking Ezri Konsa after overlooking the Aston Villa defender in his latest squad, via the Villans’ Twitter feed.
Southgate named Conor Coady, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori and Villa’s Tyrone Mings as his centre-backs for England’s upcoming fixtures. The Three Lions visit Andorra on October 9 and host Hungary on October 12 looking to strengthen their 2022 World Cup qualifying bid.
Southgate has yet selected Konsa in an England squad, with the Aston Villa star last turning out for his country in 2019 during the U21 European Championship. The 23-year-old has made seven appearances for the Young Lions in his career, after five outings with the U20s.
Konsa has been a shining light of Aston Villa’s season so far and Smith has no doubt of his talents. The Villans boss has called on the £8k-a-week enforcer to start all six of his side’s Premier League fixtures. He also featured from the bench against Chelsea in the EFL Cup.
“I know the kind of talent that I’ve got on my hands, and he’s been excellent for us,” Smith said. “I’m sure he will be on Gareth’s mind, but he has to keep working.”
England boss Southgate overlooked ‘Rolls-Royce’ Aston Villa star Konsa
Konsa has helped Aston Villa to keep three clean sheets over their Premier League fixtures so far this season. Shutting out Newcastle, Everton and Manchester United in the Villa Park outfit’s sole wins to date.
Smith will hope Konsa helps Aston Villa register a fourth shut out and shows Southgate his potential against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The Birmingham outfit travel to north London chasing back-to-back wins away to Spurs after edging a 2-1 result in May.
Konsa producing a similar display to his performance against Brentford will go a long way to Aston Villa beating Tottenham. Bees boss Thomas Frank was effusive with praise for the London-born talent after the 1-1 draw last month. Noting, via Birmingham Live:
“He’s a very talented centre-back. Like a Rolls-Royce in how he moves, he’s a smooth mover, you don’t know how quick he is. He’s extremely good on the ball, and he learnt to be a better defender.
“Sometimes, when you are very talented and look like a nice player, as a centre-back you need to be an unbelievable defender to hit the top level. He’s improved and developed in the last two or three years. He’s got huge potential.”
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