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Dan Burn in pole position for shock start after Thomas Tuchel's frank Jarrad Branthwaite…

England take on Croatia on Thursday night and the Newcastle United captain is in line to play

Jobe Bellingham and Dan Burn of England during a training session

Dan Burn looks to be handed a shock England start in a new-look back four after his imposing presence in training impressed Thomas Tuchel.

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Jarell Quansah has been guaranteed his place in the Three Lions' defence but England boss Tuchel admits he has a major dilemma over who will partner him against Croatia at Wembley on Thursday night - with Burn bang in the frame.

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Marc Guehi has pulled out of the squad through injury, Ezri Konsa is hoping to be back to face Spain and it appears that the Newcastle United captain is the favourite to make up the back four despite not being named in the original squad.

Burn was a late replacement for Guehi while Bournemouth’s James Hill was drafted into the squad amid Konsa's struggles. Tuchel, meanwhile, has voiced concerns over whether Everton man Jarrad Branthwaite - one of the original names in the party - would be able to adapt to England’s style.

Tuchel said: “It’s not our favourite situation because of course we would have liked Marc and Ezri, they were key players for us. We need a partner for Jarell, basically. And then Jarell needs to step up on his level.

“I wanted to build this strong core in the central defence with the both of them and this partnership. And improve it, even.

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“We’re forced now to find a new solution and as always if you have such crucial partnerships on the pitch, like central defenders, it’s not easy for them to straight away connect with each other and then connect with the idea of football and then connect with a new goalkeeper behind them.

“We need to be fair and need to put it in perspective once they do it because it will be a new pair. Jarrad Branthwaite is doing very well but it’s a very different style of play for him from Everton towards us.

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“You can see that Dan Burn is straight away a big voice in training and is more used to the style with Newcastle from the last two seasons with Eddie where they followed in a high press and to man-man.

“And of course he was with us at the World Cup so he is used a bit more to our style of play. On the right side we will have Jarrell Quansah and James.

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“It’s very likely that Jarell plays because he played against Czechia in this position. It’s his favourite position anyway and we have good competition on the right full-back side.”

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