Tarkowski is a throwback ... he just wants clean sheets!

THERE are four new names in the England squad for next week’s friendlies and the two who really caught my eye are James Tarkowski and Alfie Mawson. I like Mawson. He’s a good player and I’ve watched him progress at Swansea. He will relish this opportunity, as will Tarkowski, with whom I have had some good battles when Stoke have played Burnley over the last couple of seasons. The thing that impresses me most about Tarkowski (right) is he just wants to defend. He is strong and tough to play against. Normally defenders give me a couple of yards as they don’t expect to win aerial battles, but he is never afraid to get in tight and battle. In an age where we want our defenders to be ball-players, Tarkowski is old-fashioned in some ways and you can see he just wants to keep a clean sheet. He and Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope deserve this opportunity. Whether they are good enough to play internationally will become apparent to Gareth Southgate in the first few training sessions. The quality with England is unforgiving and if you can stand up to the sessions, you will be able to cope with the matches.