Sunday Express

SAM: ERIC IS THREE LIONS’ IVAN CAMPO

- By COLIN MAFHAM SPORTS CORRESPOND­ENT

Eric Dier will be crowned King of England’s midfield today – with new England boss Sam Allardyce likening the Spurs battler to two Spanish legends.

Big Sam will hand Dier what he considers to be his team’s most pivotal role – as the holding midfielder in front of the back four.

Allardyce has made this type of player a top priority in all the club sides he has managed, even attracting Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro to Bolton when he was boss at the Lancashire club.

Sam makes no secret of his belief that Dier was born to the job he is giving him. He said: “What a player, eh? Like a Campo or a Hierro. He’s got that vibe.”

Allardyce paid tribute to Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino for converting Dier into a world-class holding midfielder.

“He seems to have mastered it very, very well,” he added. “There aren’t too many English players in the Premier League who play that role, but he looks very comfortabl­e in it.

“It’s very important in that position and even when he’s out of possession he keeps a lot of pressure off the back four with his intercepti­ons and reading of the game.”

Allardyce will also name John Stones in his squad for next Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Slovakia – but he reckons the stylish defender is still a work in progress despite the £50million Manchester City paid for him.

He explained: “Mistakes highlighte­d recently seem to have knocked him back a little bit. He must learn from them as quickly as possible and put them right. England lost their opportunit­y to go further in the European Championsh­ip because of mistakes not by Stones, not the opposition’s brilliant football. And you have to make fewer mistakes at internatio­nal level than in the Premier League.

“He is the most expensive centrehalf in the country and that is a big challenge. Hopefully he will live up to that challenge.”

Allardyce is also glad that the FA cancelled a friendly match against Croatia so he can focus on the World Cup qualifier. He said: “Let’s face it, the last thing the players needed was a friendly. The last thing I needed in my first get-together was to have to think about a friendly at Wembley and then only have two days after that to prepare for Slovakia away. “Who do I play? Do I play anybody that’s going to play in Slovakia? For the first time it’s all being together and training to get to know each other, then hopefully we pick the right team and come back with a victory.”

But Allardyce also admitted that being without Manchester United boy wonder Marcus Rashford is also a blow. He said: “A disappoint­ment for me would be Rashford because he has not played. That’s a great shame.

“But with Jose buying the sort of quality players he has and with the team looking like it is, Marcus has had to take a bit of a back step.

“From an England point of view he can’t perhaps do what he did in a short time for England last year.

“But if he gets some Under-21s football, it will benefit him.”

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