Declan Rice has the last laugh after tipping Myles Lewis-Skelley for stardom | OneFootball

England midfielder Declan Rice was delighted to be proved right after Myles Lewis-Skelley’s record-breaking debut for his country.

Aged 18 years and 176 days, Arsenal left-back Lewis-Skelley became the youngest debutant to net for the national team when he opened the scoring in the 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Albania on Friday.

It was the first goal of Thomas Tuchel’s reign and got the road to possible glory in North America next year off to a winning start.

Lewis-Skelley’s dream debut continued his meteoric rise, having only made his senior debut for the Gunners in September.

Club team-mate Rice says he was shot down when he tipped Lewis-Skelley for stardom before Christmas but has had the last laugh.

“I said about it before Christmas, and a lot of people laughed at me and questioned it,” Rice said.

“They said I was speaking out of turn by saying good things about him.

“But week on week he’s shown how good he is, and the fearlessness he has in his performance.”

With England having perennial problems at left-back, Lewis-Skelley’s emergence could see him become a long-term residence in the position.

“He needs to keep being himself around the training ground at Arsenal, around England, and keep pushing himself,” Rice added.

“He’s an asset for us now. He’s 18 years old and has got a long career in the game if he keeps doing good things.

“He didn’t even know he was going to be starting until today and I just knew he was going to have a good performance, because he has that belief in himself.”

Dan Burn was a debutant at the other end of the scale as the 32-year-old completed a dream week, winning his first international cap five days after scoring in Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool.

It might have come late in his career, but the defender, who hit the crossbar with a first-half header, has got the taste for international football and wants to stick around until next summer’s World Cup.

“To walk out at Wembley and sing the national anthem and get a start for England is something that I dreamt of when I was a kid,” he said.

“I’m gutted that I didn’t score again, probably I’m being greedy, I think, because I’ve had a pretty good week.

“Now that I’ve had that first taste of international football, I’m just desperate to keep playing.

“I’d love to go to the World Cup but there is six, seven camps before that, and I’m going to have to keep playing a very high level.”