BUTTER 4 2
EVERTON v BURNLEY
The Clarets’ stand-in skipper played second fiddle last term while his centre-back partner Michael Keane won the plaudits as Sean Dyche’s team impressed in their first season back in the Premier League.
But Keane’s £25million move to Everton this summer has allowed the talented Mee to finally emerge from his shadow.
Mee, who could face his former team-mate at Goodison today, said: “I’m delighted for Michael. I’m massively happy for him.
“Me and him get on really well – and on the pitch we played really well together.
“It was a good partnership, but football moves on, and you have to create new partnerships.
“Me and Tarki ( James Tarkowski) have joined together this season – and we’re doing well.
“We’ve kept a couple of clean sheets and we both feel it’s going really well. We get on well on the pitch and we complement each other’s style of play.
“Keano is a very good player, but Tarki has come in and done very well. Hopefully this partnership proves to be just as good.”
Keane’s success, culminating in an England selection, has spurred Mee on. He added: “I’m delighted he got selected for England, it shows you what can happen in football when you work hard.
“And 100 per cent I hope I can play for England one day.
“There’s a spot there for me, I think. I look at the current squad and I look around the Premier League and don’t see many leftsided English centre-halves.
“If I keep playing well, get my head down and keep performing, then yeah, why not?
“First and foremost I want to do well for the club, but it’s always in the back of the mind.
“I don’t know about the World Cup in Russia, but I’d like to aim for a spot in an international squad.
“It will be tough, I know that, but just to be considered would be brilliant. It would be a massive » »