Moyes: Don’t let Reggae Boyz take the Mich
DAVID MOYES would love to see Gareth Southgate taking the Mich with England.
Firstly, because it would mean Michail Antonio had scored a hatful of goals for West Ham in the run-in.
And, secondly, because it would keep him out of the clutches of Jamaica and mean he was not having to travel thousands of miles for every Reggae Boyz get-together.
The West Ham star (right) is one of 15
UK-based players on Jamaica’s radar, ahead of next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
He turned down the chance to represent the Caribbean island in 2016 and was called up to two England squads under Sam Allardyce and
Gareth Southgate.
But, crucially, he did not make his debut and that has left the door open for the 30-year-old to be approached by the Jamaican FA.
Moyes said: “If he could score a bundle of goals, he would come into consideration, but when you start with Harry Kane and then you have Dominic Calvert-Lewin and others, then England have a lot of strikers who are scoring in the Premier League.
“If I’m looking at it from a distance, Gareth has tended to choose more youthful players over more senior. “But if Mich scores a bundle for us and helps us in the run-in, then I’m still hopeful it might happen. In no way am I saying to him choosing Jamaica would be a bad choice because I’m not saying that. But, slightly for selfish reasons, if he was selected for England it would mean he has less travelling.”
Moyes (right) added: “At the moment, I just want him to keep playing well for us and the big thing will be for him to keep fit.
“We all know when you get a bit older, if you have not been selected for your country you might want the opportunity to play international football elsewhere and if that happened I’d be wishing him my best.”
TONY MOWBRAY was thrilled to have Bradley Dack back on the scoresheet as Blackburn returned to winning ways.
Dack opened the scoring on 18 minutes with his second goal of the season, which only started for him in November after a 330-day absence with a serious knee injury.
He should have had a second, or at least a penalty, when he appeared to be fouled by Ryan Woods on 70 minutes.
Rovers sealed a first win in eight games when Sam Gallagher claimed the second minutes later after Tyrhys Dolan’s blocked shot hit him and went in. Boss
Mowbray (below) said: “Bradley is really disappointed he didn’t get a second or at least a penalty just prior to our second goal.
“Ryan Woods just brings him down. He should have still scored with his left foot, but Woods brings him down from behind. How the ref missed that I do not know.
“So Bradley is disappointed he did not
get two, but I am delighted for him.”
Fortune is beginning to shine on Dack if his first strike is anything to go by.
He showed his talismanic touch with his back to goal on the edge of the box, taking one step right to check back and turn to open up the opportunity.
But it required a deflection off Shaun Gary Rowett said: “We Hutchinson to fly past didn’t show enough quality Bartosz Bialkowski. in the final third and
Matt Smith headed Scott conceded two poor goals. Malone’s 57th-minute cross “Blackburn deserved the wide and Malone hit a post, win but there was not but Lions boss massive amounts in it.” MILLWALL: Bialkowski 6, Romeo 6 (McNamara 73), Evans 5, Hutchinson 5, Cooper 5, Malone 5, Woods 5 (Williams 84), Mitchell 6 (Smith 55, 6), Wallace 5 (Burey 73), Bodvarsson. 5, Bennett 6 (Ferguson 73).
Unused subs: Fielding, Pearce, Tiensia, Thompson.
BLACKBURN: Kaminski 6, Rankin-Costello 6 (Nyambe 62, 6), Lenihan 7, Harwood-Bellis 6, Douglas 7, Trybull 7 (Evans 90), Dack 7 (Johnson 71), Buckley 7 (Elliott 71), Gallagher 7, Dolan 8, Brereton 7 (Rothwell 70). Unused subs: Pears, Bennett, Travis, Downing.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Tyrhys Dolan. Hand in both goals, great link play and pressing.
REFEREE: Matthew Donohue 7.