Kevin Gallen on what Austin must do to earn England call-up

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The former Queens Park Rangers man has been discussing the 25-year-old’s England future.

Ex-QPR forward Kevin Gallen feels Charlie Austin can earn himself an England call-up in the future – if he works on his link-up play outside the box.

Gallen, who played up front for the R’s during two six-year-long spells, took to Twitter after the England squad was announced – with Tottenham’s Harry Kane handed a place but not QPR’s Austin.

And the 39-year-old believes the QPR striker is good enough to play for the Three Lions in terms of his penalty-box ability – but not with his skills outside the danger area.

Those who turn up at Loftus Road every other week will likely agree with the former QPR man. But, for those outraged at Austin’s exclusion from Roy Hodgson’s squad, the stats back up Gallen’s argument.

Indeed, as Opta stats show, goals aside, Austin is outranked by several of his QPR team-mates.

In terms of chances created, the likes of Leroy Fer and Joey Barton have almost achieved three times as much as the 25-year-old in the Premier League this season. Austin’s final-third passing is also bettered by the likes of Barton, Fer and Mauricio Isla – while it is almost matched by Bobby Zamora.

Austin’s overall passing accuracy, meanwhile, is a lowly 65 per cent.

Inside the box, then, the QPR ace is – to all intents and purposes – an England striker. But, outside it, 32-year-old Barton and the like have as good a chance of an international call-up…