Danny Mills has responded to suggestions that Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips could be thrust into the England squad by Gareth Southgate ahead of next summer's European Championship.
Over the weekend, EFL pundit Danny Higginbotham declared in a piece written for The Sun that Phillips could be the answer to the Three Lions' holding midfield conundrum.
Gareth Southgate has switched between Tottenham's Harry Winks and West Ham's Declan Rice in that role during qualifying but Higginbotham believes the position is up for grabs and backed Phillips to force his way into Southgate's reckoning.
However, Mills has poured water over the flames by explaining how significant the step up is to international football and believes Phillips isn't quite ready.
“I’d love it! I think he’s a fabulous player but the step up to the Premier League is huge, the step up to international football is absolutely massive,” he told TalkSport.
“I just think it’s too much to take somebody from the Championship, who has got no international experience, to suddenly drop them in and expect them to be fabulous week in, week out. It’s not just the ability, it’s the mental pressure and everything else that comes with it.
“Now we’re looking at the Euros, the squad that is going to play there and you can tinker with it here and there but you’ve got four friendlies, I think. To throw a player in there that has been nowhere near the England squad so far…
“I watch him regularly and I think he’s a fabulous player but is he good enough to do it in the Premier League week in, week out? That’s a big call. He is an out-and-out holding midfield player and that does go in his favour.
“But is he going to be better than Declan Rice? I think sometimes people underestimate the step up, even from the Premier League the step up to international football is absolutely huge.”
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