Declan Rice challenges ‘fearless’ Myles Lewis-Skelly to keep his place in England team after outstanding debut | OneFootball

Declan Rice says there were people who laughed at him when he heaped praise on Myles Lewis-Skelly a few months ago.

Lewis-Skelly made his England debut in the 2-0 win over Albania, Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge, scoring the opener and putting in a very impressive performance.

And the 18-year-old’s Arsenal and now England team-mate Rice praised the left-back’s fearlessness and says it is now clear why he has long thought so highly of the youngster.

“I said about it before Christmas and a lot of people laughed at me and questioned it and said I was speaking out of turn by saying good things about him,” Rice said.

“But week on week, he’s showed how good he is and the fearlessness he has in his performances.

“Tonight when I saw he was starting, he didn’t even know himself he was going to start until today, but I just knew that he was going to have a good performance because he has that belief in himself.”

Lewis-Skelly has broken into the Gunners first-team this season under Mikel Arteta and has quickly established himself as a starter at left-back.

And Rice challenged his team-mate to keep pushing in order to maintain his place in the England side too following an outstanding debut.

“That’s on him,” Rice continued. “How much he wants it and how much he wants to keep going.

“You can’t not be hungry. He needs to be hungry every day. He needs to keep being himself around the training ground at Arsenal, around how he’s been here with England, and keep believing in himself.

“He’s an asset. He’s 18-years-old and he’s got a long career in the game if he keeps doing these good things.”

Harry Kane scored England’s second of the game in their World Cup qualifying victory and Rice hailed the team’s professionalism.

“A professional win,” he said. “It’s been a lot to learn in the first four or five days working with him (Tuchel) and it’s not enough time to fully adapt to everything. Over time that’s going to become more evident.”