Troy’s a top striker & pundit.. he deserves a call-up says Foster

IN a week when England coach Gareth Southgate finalises his options for the upcoming Nations League games against Croatia and Spain, Troy Deeney delivered a timely reminder that he is still around.

The 30-year-old Watford talisman, yet to be called upon by England after three years ago rejecting invitations from Jamaica, moaned last week that he and others like him need to be playing for fashionable clubs if they are going to get the nod.

Deeney, who has hit 33 goals in a struggling team in the last four years and transformed his game, bullied Fulham at Craven Cottage in a match the Hornets should have won easily before Slavisa Jokanovic’s side staged a late rally to grab a fortunate point.

Deeney’s Hornets teammate and England World Cup goalkeeper Ben Foster urged his pal, who was praised for his punditry on

Sky Sports last week, not to give up hope of England recognition.

“The likes of Troy just need to keep going and follow in the footsteps of people like Rickie Lambert. They still have a chance. Troy can only do his talking on the pitch and that’s what he has done at every game since I have been here.

“He is a giant. He offers a different dimension, like when Peter Crouch was in the England team. If you get the ball up to him, he will hold it. He is such a strong boy and his work-rate is second to none.

“He is a winner. That why he is our captain. He is such a good leader. He’s always geeing us up, and that’s what you want from your captain. But he does it on the pitch too

– he is not just a talker. When people see that, they cannot help but follow suit.”

Deeney, already playing with a couple of broken toes, was felled by a

Timothy

Fosu-mensah tackle (right) that should have resulted in a red card but battled on with another foot injury.

Watford were ahead inside 87 seconds at Craven Cottage. Fulham failed to clear a throw- in and Andre Gray swivelled to shoot home. But Gray,

Deeney (below, celebrating the opener with team-mates) and

Will Hughes all missed straightforward chances to put the game out of sight.

Fulham’s ex-watford boss Jokanovic rang the changes and his side improved in the second half.

Top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled with a close-range flick and was then twice denied a winner by two fine saves from Foster.

Team-mate Ryan Sessegnon said: “Mitro is a target-man, an out-ball for us when struggling. He can hold the ball up and make us play.

“He scored so many goals in the Championship for us last season. We all knew he was a Premier League striker.”