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Three Newcastle United players have been called up Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad.
Dan Burn will be back at Wembley - just days after Newcastle United face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
At the age of 32, the Blyth-born defender has received his first England call-up by Thomas Tuchel for World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
United boss Eddie Howe has hailed Burn’s selection as “one of the great football stories”, with the Blyth-born starting out at Darlington before progressing up the Football League to boyhood club Newcastle and now the Three Lions.
‘One of the great football stories’
“Yeah, incredible moment for Dan and I have to say there's no one more deserving in my opinion,” said Howe. “Starting to work with Dan when we did and came in obviously during our relegation battle, just such an inspiring guy but also a very talented player and I think it's a great story really, one of the great football stories, one of the great comebacks.
“Someone who had to do it the real hard way, coming through the leagues, a dedicated professional, a leader, a real man, an inspirational figure.”
“He is the model pro really,” Howe added. He's so committed to what he does and I think he's had to be.
“He's been given great strengths, his size and his height, they're brilliant weapons to have on a football pitch especially as a centre-half but then you've got to improve all the other areas of your game to see that as a big strength and he's done that for me.
“His character is so stable, so level that he takes every challenge and every potential negative in his stride and comes back stronger and I'm so pleased for him on a personal level because he's thoroughly deserved it.”
Burn is set to start for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final as Eddie Howe’s side look to end the club’s 70-year wait for a domestic trophy.
A couple of days later, Burn will link-up with the England squad, which includes club teammates Tino Livramento and Anthony Gordon, at St George’s Park for the first time. Tuchel’s side welcome Albania to Wembley on Friday before Latvia visit three days later.
Howe added: “Yeah I think that's a difficult one for anyone to go to mentally but I just think it is separate from the cup final, this is just a great moment for Dan and of course for Newcastle but the cup final is of course all we're thinking about right now.”
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