By NATHAN SALT - FOOTBALL REPORTER
Published: 04:11 EST, 14 November 2025 | Updated: 04:11 EST, 14 November 2025
Twelve months to the day since making his senior debut, Lewis Hall is in reflective mood.
On he came at half-time in Athens, sent on by Lee Carsley to become the 1,287th player to represent the Three Lions, Hall had lift off with the national team.
Incoming boss Thomas Tuchel knew him from Chelsea and talk was already bubbling away that the Newcastle United youngster had all the tools at his disposal to establish himself as England's World Cup left back in 2026.
Injury robbed Hall of much of this. A knee issue in March kept him out of Tuchel's first camp, sidelined him for months, and it means this latest camp with England Under-21s is his first with the national team in a year.
'It was incredibly difficult,' Hall explained.
'It was the worst part of my career so far.
Lewis Hall is looking to get his England career back on track, 12 months after his senior debut
'Obviously, I went through a season, when I first joined, where I didn't get as many minutes as I would have liked. I was working hard on the training pitch and stuff and I found that a bit frustrating - the first half of that season.
'But going through what I went through last season, the back end of it - I would have rather been in that situation again, almost, because I was just missing playing and stuff like that.'
Hall's mental toughness would be called into question.
Missing Newcastle's Carabao Cup final win over Liverpool at Wembley, which happened just days after surgery on his knee, was a bitter pill to swallow even if he still has a medal at home.
'Even now, although we've won – and I'm obviously buzzing that we've won, I've got my medal and everything, I've contributed – but, at the same time, it still hurts quite a lot seeing that and not being able to be there,' Hall explained.
Having to miss the Under-21 Euros hurt too, as Carsley's side went on to win it in Slovakia.
And while watching on from the sidelines, Hall has seen Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly, Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly and Tottenham Hotspur's Djed Spence make their case to be England's World Cup left back next summer.
'I think it's made me mentally a lot stronger, which I think anyone who's injured would tell you the same,' the 21-year-old said.
'It's not easy. You go through phases throughout the rehab process where you'll have a couple of weeks where you're feeling good, positive, and then you'll have a couple of weeks where you feel like you're not making that much progress. I guess it's all just part of the process.
Hall is back with Lee Carsley and the Under-21s but has ambitions of going to the World Cup
'Now I'm just enjoying every moment as it comes, and I never take anything for granted these days.
'Before I had my foot injury, I had never been injured before, so I've always been training, always been available for games.
'Having that four or five month period where I wasn't able to do that was like something that I struggled with a lot, but I obviously had a lot of support around me.
'So, now – whether it's training, games, or anything like that – I'm just taking each day at a time, and just being grateful for the position I'm in.'
Psychology has helped, particularly the work of Dr Ian Mitchell, Newcastle's head of psychology, in helping him process the feeling of missed opportunity.
'I used to speak to him every week,' Hall said of Mitchell.
'I used to speak to the coaching staff fairly regularly and the players. I tried to keep myself having breakfast and lunch and do everything I could with the lads, apart from train, to try and keep myself part of the team.
'Everyone there was so good with me and they knew how much it was upsetting me to miss the cup final and things like. I had a lot of people that I felt like I could speak to.'
Hall remains firmly on Tuchel's radar despite his long absence from the senior set-up and while the pair haven't spoken much since an introductory phone call when the German got the job, both Hall and Under-21s boss Carsley are acutely aware that he is firmly in the mix for a World Cup call-up if everything lines up in the next six months.
Hall (middle) can sense an opening at left back next summer in Thomas Tuchel's squad
'I've obviously had my taste of the senior camp before, so I know sort of how it felt to be there,' Hall said.
'It's definitely a big goal of mine [the World Cup], and it's something that I'd love to do.
'By the time the World Cup comes about I'll be 21, so, being able to go to a World Cup at 21 is obviously a big achievement in my eyes and it's something that I would be so proud of myself to do. Yeah, that's obviously a big aim for me.'
For now Hall is taking the positives out of an opportunity to work with the Under-21s, and specifically Ashley Cole, arguably England's greatest ever left back, to further amplify his game to the next level.
He's had to wait a year to pull on an England shirt again but with his body and mind right, Hall is eager to make up for lost time, starting tonight at St Andrews against the Republic of Ireland.
Lee CarsleyEngland Football