SAMTHING SPECIAL
Clucas can rise from non-league to England
SAM CLUCAS is being challenged to complete his fairytale rise from non-league to England – by helping Hull stay in the Premier League.
The Tigers midfielder has enjoyed a standout debut Premier League campaign to cap a meteoric climb that has seen him play and score in all top five tiers of English football in less than four years.
Clucas, 26, has caught the attention of Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, who paid a personal check on the former Lincoln trainee earlier this month in the 2-1 win over West Ham.
He earned a solitary semi-pro England C cap in 2013 shortly before leaving non-league football behind with Hereford to join Mansfield.
He arrived at the KCOM Stadium from Chesterfield in a £1.3million deal in the summer of 2015 and admits playing in the Premier League is beyond his wildest dreams, let alone the prospect of pulling on an England shirt.
The sale of Jake Livermore to West Brom and long-term injury to Ryan Mason has seen Clucas excel after being moved to a central midfield role.
Marco Silva praised the former Lincoln trainee’s work ethic and says a strong finish to the season can help press his international claims.
The Hull boss said: “If he keeps working hard he can achieve his goal. He’s a great lad and it’s important he believes in himself and after that it will be up to the coach to make the decision. He’s versatile, but it’s clear his best position is in central midfield.”
England play next on June 10 in Glasgow for a World Cup qualifier against Scotland before facing France in a friendly in Paris three days later.
Silva (below) added: “What I see in Sam is someone who learns and improves every day. He’s become a very important player for us and he’s really had to grow up in his career.” Hull look to take their latest step towards survival when they travel to Stoke bidding for a first Premier League away victory since they won at Swansea in August. The Tigers have a slender two-point gap between third-bottom Swans with six games left as they aim to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Silva said: “It’s hard to tell how many points we need to stay up. People say we’d be unlucky to go down with 39 points, but at the moment we’ve only got 30.”