· 14 November 2025, 19:30
Newcastle United full-back Lewis Hall missed out on Thomas Tuchel's senior England side this month, but the 21-year-old was called up for the Under-21s.
Hall is still fighting his way back to full fitness and hasn't had the chance to really show what he can do this season, so it's hardly surprising he was overlooked by Tuchel.
After undergoing surgery on a broken foot earlier this year, Hall missed a lot of football last season, and then, after finally recovering from that, he picked up a hamstring injury shortly after returning to action against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.
He's made a couple of very brief cameos for Newcastle lately and will more than likely start against Manchester City a week on Saturday, thanks to Dan Burn picking up a one-match suspension for his red card against Brentford on Sunday.
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Lewis Hall is determined to get back into the senior England setup
Lewis Hall would rather have been fighting to get Eddie Howe's attention again than going through his injury woes
The 21-year-old full-back, who signed for Newcastle on a permanent basis last summer for £28 million, is due to play for England Under 21s tonight after missing out on the senior squad, and he spoke to the Daily Mail about the struggles he's had to overcome recently.
"It was incredibly difficult. 'It was the worst part of my career so far.
"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."
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Lewis Hall aims to be on the plane to the World Cup in the summer
Hall already has his sights set on making it into the England World Cup squad next season, and given that it was Thomas Tuchel who gave him his break at Chelsea, there's a strong likelihood that the German will be keeping a close eye on his progress.
"I've obviously had my taste of the senior camp before, so I know sort of how it felt to be there.
"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."